Method in the Madness
by Lickerish
Summary: Detective Kate Beckett and author Richard Castle investigate a series of murders and in the process, understand themselves just a little bit better.
1. To Be or Not to Be

1. To Be or Not to Be

Light lingered over dewy blades of grass as the sun rose among the swing sets of the elementary school playground. Cars could be heard in the distance and the sound of birds' morning songs filled the air. The stringent smell of blood, that iron and rust, lingered. Strewn beneath a large metal slide, the body of a young woman could barely be seen. Dried blood, the residuals from her internal injuries, crusted around the side of her mouth. Shoes on the wrong feet and coat strewn haphazardly beneath her body, it was clear that she had been through quite a bit before being dumped. It was a Sunday morning and her body would not be found for another day were it not for the large black Labrador that had wandered from its owner on the jogging path. The woman's body was nearly overlooked. Just as the jogger began to turn, however, the woman's belt buckle glistened in the sun.

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Detective Kate Beckett despised mornings; however she couldn't really claim to like evenings either. Sleep was one of her favorite pastimes. It is thus easy to understand her distaste at being awoken at 5:43 am to the sound of her shrill cell phone ring. There were times at which she questioned her choice of ringer, but knew that the practicality of it outweighed her dislike for the sound itself. If she weren't a New York City detective, maybe she would choose a nice, soothing song instead. Maybe it would be classical – that always put her at ease. Or perhaps she would choose something from an alternative artist. Butterfly Boucher's "Life is Short" was one of her favorites.

This little tangent of thought nearly caused her to miss the call entirely. As she reached across to her bedside table and pressed the call button on the phone, she found herself wishing the call could have come in another two hours. Before it even made contact with her ear she could clearly hear the "hurly burly" in the background.

"Beckett," she mumbled into the phone. On the other end of the line, officer Javier Esposito informed the detective of the most recent murder case to grace New York City. Kate quickly got the necessary information from Esposito before hanging up. She went to her closet to find appropriate clothes for the day. This act, dressing for the day, used to be a simple one. That was until Richard Castle came into her life. The annoyingly savvy writer had been following her around for the past five and a half months.

Esposito refused to take Castle off her hands in the beginning. He wanted her to suffer. Kate was a control freak. She knew it, but didn't want other people to define her by it. Her inability to control Castle was what seemed to entertain her coworkers most about their working relationship. What annoyed Kate most was that she wasn't annoyed with him at all. Not really. Yes, at times he really got under her skin, but in the end, he was an asset. Rick Castle had a great mind when it came to psychological methodology and when teamed with Kate, they seemed to be unstoppable.

He was beginning to grow on her – in a number of ways. She hated to admit it, but she was beginning to feel the bud of an attraction growing within her. At first she wrote it off as a lack of romantic relationships, as her last boyfriend had been in college – an whole ten years ago. She had been on dates since, but never felt that spark. She told herself it was because she wanted to focus on her work, but in the end she knew that she just didn't want to let herself feel that way again. All of that changed when Castle walked into her life. Well, literally she walked into his, but when all was said and done, it had left its mark on her. Every touch, every look, just seemed to feed the desire that was burgeoning within her. She always tried to look away before it got too intense, but swore she had seen something more in his eyes during their recent interactions – something that was not there in the beginning. At first, his overly flirtatious mannerisms annoyed her to no end, but now she had to pretend to be upset by his comments. She needed to keep up the façade – he couldn't know how much he got to her.

These feelings, the ones she was currently suppressing, were what made it difficult to get dressed lately. She didn't want to look like she was trying too hard or to look too feminine. Kate wanted to be seen as an equal instead of a "dandy little bundle for a fella to cuddle". At the same time however, she didn't want to appear shapeless, which was the way most of her professional dress made her feel. One night last week she had stopped by H&M on her way back from work. Today she chose one of the new button downs she bought last week with a classy, grey, formfitting vest over the top. On the bottom she chose her favorite pair of skinny black slacks. The crease on them made it look as if her legs were much longer than they actually were, which she didn't actually need at her height of five nine. She had noticed the way Rick seemed to look at her legs when he assumed she wasn't looking. She could always feel the heat rush to her cheeks at just these times. It made her feel wanted, desired even; an emotion that she hadn't felt in quite a long time. She slipped on a pair of professional looking pumps that made her feel just a bit more feminine while bringing her just a little bit closer to reaching Castle's height. He was the perfect high for a man – just over six feet – not too tall, not too short. She always had the problem of finding a date that didn't dwarf under her, especially when she chose to wear heels. With Rick this was something she would never had to worry about.

Once she was dressed and had her makeup on for the day, she stopped back by her bureau to grab her father's watch, mother's wedding ring, and her gun. Quickly, she put them on as she walked through the door to the great room and ultimately, the kitchen. She selected a Luna bar from a drawer and a bottle of water from the fridge before heading out the door to start what she knew would be a long day.

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She pulled her red wool peacoat tightly around her as she walked across the blacktop leading to the playground. The piercing cold of the April morning bit against her skin, leaving behind a constant sting. Castle, Esposito, and Ryan could be seen standing around the slide under which Kate Beckett could clearly see a leg - bent in a manner in which a leg should never be bent. Attached to that leg is what she knew to be the body of their latest victim. Violent crimes had been her forte since joining NYPD. This one would be no different than the rest, she could already tell.


	2. Frailty, Thy Name is Woman

2. Frailty, Thy Name Is Woman

As Kate approached the crime scene, Rick looked up from something that just seconds before had seemed quite interesting. That however, was nothing next to the enthralling Kate Beckett. She was exquisite, as always. Kate always held herself in such a firm and unyielding manner, but Rick could not be fooled. He knew that underneath her carefully rigid exterior there was so much more to be found. That is just what he wanted to do. Of course, researching his new novels was important, but what really intrigued him was the persona behind her prudent façade. Who was Kate Beckett really? Whoever she was, Rick Castle knew that he would enjoy finding out and ever more so, enjoy the person that she was underneath it all.

The closer she got, the more his heart began to race. All he wanted to do was touch her. Not in a sexual way, just touch her – make sure she was real. He began to walk toward her and once he was close enough, he reached his hand out towards her lower back and began to gently guide her back to the scene.

"Good morning, detective," he said in a low voice just inches from her ear. "This one looks like it's going to be juicy. Girl's dumped on a school playground, Laney thinks it was sometime early this morning due to the fresh smell of the blood and the appearance of the wounds."

"Do we have a name?" she questioned as the pair reached the others. Although her question was directed at Lanie Parish, the medical examiner, Castle was the one who answered.

"Melanie Lamb, single, age 23. She works here."

"We found her wallet on her, credit cards, money, ID, all of it's still there, so we know it wasn't a mugging." Officer Kevin Ryan replied.

"Any signs of sexual assault?"

Lanie glanced up from the body. "It's hard to tell at this point. I will have to do a more thorough exam back at the lab, but what I can tell you is that she went through a lot before her death. Her left leg is broken in three places, her pelvis is crushed, and she has a great deal of internal injuries not to mention the numerous stab wounds to her abdomen and chest. It looks as if a number of them we delivered postmortem, but I can't tell for sure right now."

"How do we know she worked here?"

"There was a school keycard with her picture on it and set of keys attached to a lanyard that was found next to her body. It's covered in blood. I'm thinking she attempted to enter the school to evade her captor, but he got to her before she could make her entrance." Castle always had his theories.

"Okay Castle, lets hear the rest of your theory. What's her story?"

"Well, lets take a look at the facts at hand. She's a school teacher, but she's not exactly dressed like one, is she? That leads me to believe that she was out on the town last night, maybe a club. There are a few within walking distance, which is most likely where she was if she had the ability to reach the school on foot. She's not married – no ring, not even an indent on her finger from where one might have been. So she was on a date. She had a little, maybe a lot, to drink and was having a good time until he started to get a little too touchy." At this point he was standing behind Kate, close enough for her to feel the body heat radiating off his chest, but not close enough to touch – that is until he decided that a demonstration was in order. His hands went to her waist and he pulled her flush against him. Esposito and Ryan waited on the edge of their proverbial seats for her reaction, yet to their dismay, she did nothing. Nothing that is except drop her head to the side, angled toward Castle, and give him the most frustrated look possible. Rick chose to ignore this however, and continued as if nothing had happened.

"She pushed him away, but he just kept coming back. Getting sick of it, she tells him she's tired and wants to leave. As she stands outside to catch a cab, he approaches her from behind, no one sees because its not close to closing and there's no line to get in. She still refuses her advances and he starts to get a little upset. No cabs are coming and she wants to get out of there, so she heads for the subway. Before she can make it, the date grabs her by the wrist and starts his attack. She's too weak to resist – she is drunk after all – but she manages to run away. She gets a good head start and is all the way to the school before he catches up with her. He drags her to the playground and finishes her off. Since it still isn't closing, he has time to clean up and return to the club without anyone being the wiser." He used his hands, which were still at Kate's waist, to slowly turn her until she was facing him. There was still little to no space between them, which left their faces a mere inch apart.

"Charming." Kate attempted to pull back from Rick but his hold was a little too tight. Instead of struggling, she decided to see where he was going with this. After a good thirty seconds with no interaction other than their touching bodies, she cocked her head to the side and bit her lip. "Now if you'll let go, we can contact the school and see where to go from there." Still nothing. Kate could feel the beginning of a blush creeping into her cheeks. She placed her right hand on his chest and gave him a gentle push. This seemed to wake him from his trance and he removed he hands quickly as if he had been burned, glancing at the ground.

She felt instantly cold at the loss of his hands and placed her own arms across her chest to accommodate for it. Rick, however, saw this as a defense tactic and made a note to give the detective her space for the time being. He couldn't understand what had caused him to invade her personal space in such an obtrusive way, but he couldn't deny the fact that he enjoyed every second of it. A smirk played at the corner of his lips until he realized that Becket was speaking to him.

"Castle?"

"Yeah! Sorry."

"Esposito and Ryan are going to get in contact with the school district and I am going to her apartment. Hopefully she has a roommate we can talk to. Are you coming?"

"Of course." Rick let Kate walk ahead of him – he always loved watching her walk away. It's not like he was trying to womanize her or anything, she just had a really nice ass. As he was thinking about said ass, not paying attention to where he was going, he failed to notice that they were already at Kate's cruiser. As a result, he accidentally walked right into her, pinning her to the car. "Sorry," he blurted out as he stepped quickly backward and then around to the passenger's side of the car. Kate stood stock still for a moment, gathering both her thoughts and her sanity. He had no idea what it did to her when he got so close that she could smell his Old Spice aftershave and his manly musk hidden just beneath it.

As she started the car, Castle seemed to return to his old self, laying out his theories and talking about his latest launch party. "You know, Beckett, since you are my mus… Sorry, my _inspiration_, you could always come to these parties. I mean, it's only fair since without you, there would be no books." He was obviously reaching, but she had to admit that even though these parties were not her scene, spending more time with Castle didn't exactly disgust her. But then again, Kate was worried that she might run into his ex-wife - the supposed 'deep fried-twinkie'. She had no idea what their current relationship was and that killed her.

When he walked into the crime scene a few days ago and announced that he had had sex with his wife that morning, Beckett thought her heart was about to drop out of her chest. In an attempt to get him to stop talking, she asked him to respect the dead man. Castle didn't seem to buy it. Neither did Kate really. She knew, however, that if he told her any more about what was going on that the hole that was currently working its way through her chest would soon breach the surface. Beckett had just assumed that they had an unspoken agreement. They weren't sleeping with each other, but they weren't sleeping with anyone else either. Or at least she wasn't. Although, that wasn't saying much. She hadn't slept with anyone in so long she began to wonder if it was possible to revert back to virginity.

Since then, he had discussed his wife moving back to New York. Although he didn't seem to pleased at this turn of events, she was still worried. Kate just couldn't handle the thought, so she tended to tune him out whenever this topic of conversation came about. The fact that Kate tuned him out was the reason she was now hesitant to attend a party in which the ex may also be in attendance - she had no idea what was happening between them. She felt as if she could handle seeing them together if the woman were to show up at the precinct, as she had the other day. If Beckett were wearing her professional clothes and could hide behind her façade, it might just be a little easier. If she were to run into the two of them at a party, however, she would be much more vulnerable. She would be out of her element, which scared her. She hated feeling frail, so she usually tried to avoid situations in which she did not have the upper hand – thus the title of control freak.

It was then that she noticed his stare and realized that she had been quite quiet after his invitation. So she said the first thing that came to mind. "Wouldn't your wife prefer it if you spent you time with her at the party?" She couldn't believe that it had come out of her mouth, especially the fact that it had sounded so snarky.

Castle seemed just as shocked by her question as she was. It took him a moment to respond. "Ex-wife, and actually I remembered the reason we broke up in the first place - her affair and my utter distain for her - and decided that getting back together wouldn't be the best idea. I think in the end I was doing it for Alexis, not myself. She's back in LA now, so, no she won't be at the party. Although my second ex-wife will be, since she is my publisher. Anyway, I would really like it if you could come."

This admission shook Beckett's resolve so quickly that she found herself nodding her assent without intending to. When she glanced at Castle and saw the ecstatic grin on his face she didn't have the heart to take it back. "That would be nice," she said simply. Once that was out of the way, they seemed to return to their old selves. Kate even felt herself looking forward to getting dressed up and spending a night out with Castle.

They pulled up to the apartment building then and before Beckett could even get her seatbelt off, Castle was making his way around the car and opening her door for her. Who said romance was dead? Well, until Kate had met Rick, she was one of those people. Now, however, she may just have to concede that it was alive and well. The pair quickly made their way inside and to the elevator, which was luckily already on the first floor.

Why did victims always seem to live on the thirteenth floor? This was something Rick wondered as he pressed that exact button. Couldn't they live on the first? That way he wouldn't have to stand in an elevator with a woman who smelled so heavenly that all he wanted to do at the moment was pull her to him and see if she tasted as good as she smelled. But he couldn't and that was killing him. He had wanted her for a while now. At the beginning he just thought she was smart and attractive, but now it went deeper than that. The more Rick got to know Kate, the more he wanted to just be with her – in every sense of the word. In the beginning he probably would have been happy with a good lay, but now? Now he wanted everything. She wasn't just the sexiest woman he had ever laid eyes on. She was smart, strong, independent, breathtakingly beautiful, savvy, really good at her job, honest, and he kind of hoped she was just the littlest bit slutty. She was a real challenge, and that was part of her charm. She would not be fooled by his tricks. He couldn't just bat his eyes and get what he wanted. She was a tough, tough cookie – one that he wanted to break. At first he just wanted to chase her, but now he wanted so much more.

It wasn't the trill of the chase anymore – now it was the trill of the possibility. The possibility that she may want to be with him as well. The possibility of them creating something together. After pressing the button, he backed his way toward the railing that lined the tiled walls of the small elevator. This action placed him within inches of Kate, a fact which didn't evade his consciousness. As his hand landed back at his side, it grazed the sensitive skin of her left hand. As subtly as possible, he reach out and grasped her hand lightly - in an almost loving embrace. Her slight intake of breath at the contact was audible and a palpable sexual tension filled the small area. Her mouth formed a perfect "o" shape – one that begged to be kissed, or at least that was Castle's take on it. Before anything more could happen however, the doors opened revealing a bland beige hallway. Rick quickly changed his mind. Thirteen floors was not enough – the elevator was on its way to becoming one of his very favorite places as long as Beckett was the one there with him.


	3. Brevity is the Soul of Wit

3. Brevity is the Soul of Wit

"When was the last time you saw Melanie?" Beckett asked of the victim's roommate – a young woman named Alice.

"Last night just before she left."

Castle moved to the edge of his seat. "Left for where?"

Alice was a petite woman. Her small frame and diminutive height - she couldn't be more than five feet and two inches tall - were almost lost in the plush, overstuffed couch on which she sat. "Pacha. It's a club over on 46th and 11th. She left around one."

"That's just two blocks from Elias Howe Elementary." Kate glanced at Rick at this. "Did she have a date?"

"She was meeting some guy there. I guess he was someone she knew in college or something." Alice seemed quite distressed as the words came out in stilted sentences.

Both Castle and Beckett were on the edges of their seats now. Rick was looking pointedly at Alice, awaiting her reply. "Did she mention a name to you at all?"

"I think she said his name was Oscar. She didn't tell me much else."

"Do you know his last name?"

"No, like I said, she didn't tell me much. We went to different colleges, so I never really met the guy. Do you think he had something to do with this?" The girl was obviously uneasy about the current situation and her friend's unfortunate fate.

"It's possible. However, it's to tell at this point."

Kate Beckett always disliked assuming things in front of victim's friends and families. It was important to her that they not get hopes up or down, depending on the particular bit of information.

"Didn't you worry when she never came home?" Castle knew he would personally worry if even his mother failed to come home at night without letting him know in advance. She tended to come back after her dates, preferring not to prolong the relationships longer than necessary. He was like that himself in a number of ways. Rick never tended to find someone he wanted to be with who could stand his presence. This is why his relationships, other than his marriages, which of course had both been a farce, never lasted past the second date.

"Not really. I didn't expect her home this early. Pacha doesn't get going until around three am. That's when the main DJ comes on and the crowd of serious clubbers get there. She usually wouldn't be home until around six and if she ended up spending the night with the guy, who knows when she would have been back."

This was something Rick Castle knew all too well. Although he himself did not go out clubbing much – it wasn't his scene and the fact that he had a daughter to raise didn't make it a great idea – he knew quite a few people who did. Pacha was a favorite of many.

"Were the two of you close?"

"Yeah, we have known each other since elementary school. We actually went to Elias Howe together. It wasn't until college that we separated. She went to Columbia for teaching and I went to Yale to study Comparative Literature. She was working on her masters in Special Education while she taught. After I came back from Yale, we moved in together. That was a year ago."

"Did she seem depressed? It seems as if she probably had a lot of stress in her life."

Alice reminded Rick of a friend of Alexis'. She seemed as if she had once been quite exuberant and outgoing, but the current situation was obviously taking its toll on her.

"Yeah, actually, she's been on antidepressants since middle school. She takes them every day though and she seemed to be doing pretty well."

"Did she usually stay out this late on weekends?"

"Yeah, she was really big into the whole club scene. Every weekend she was out somewhere, but Pacha was her favorite. I never really went out with her though. I prefer to stay home. I can't help but think that if I had been with her last night that none of this would have had to happen."

Such a feeling of guilt was not a stranger to Kate. She had seen her father go thought much of the same thing in the beginning and didn't want this girl to turn out in the same way her father had. Alcoholism is not something she wished upon anyone. She would never let anyone know the toll her mother's murder took on her. She had always wondered if her mother could have been spared if only Kate had gone shopping with her mother that day before dinner. Would it have changed the outcome? This is something that plagued her to this day. She moved to the couch and offered support to Alice, placing her arm around the girl's shoulder. "None of this is your fault. There's no way you could have known what was going to take place."

"I know… It's just… At least her parents aren't alive to see this."

"Her parents are dead?" This was not something Beckett had been expecting.

"Yeah, they died her freshman year at Columbia. She took it pretty hard and threw herself into her studies – even graduated a year early. She hasn't really been the same since."

"Thank you for your time. If we have any further questions, we will let you know." By the time Beckett stood, Castle was already holding her coat out for her to put on. She turned and quickly slipped her arms into the coat as Castle slid it onto her shoulders. As she turned around, Rick used the tips of his fingers to flatten the lapels across her chest before giving her a brief smile, placing his hand on the small of her back, and leading her out to the hallway from whence they had come.

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As soon as the door was closed, Castle began to discuss the case once again. "We better find this Oscar person. Do you think his number is in her phone?"

"I'm sure it is. I want to talk to the club, see if they saw anything. If she was a regular, maybe they knew her." Kate pressed the down button for the elevator, yet unlike before, they had to wait for it. She couldn't help but feel the proximity of Castle like the blush the simultaneously crept up her cheeks. She bit her lip to keep from moaning out as she felt his palm brush against her hipbone. Just as his hand began to rub in small circles and she leaned back into him, the door to the elevator opened and the pair separated like shrapnel. They stepped aside to let an elderly couple emerge before entering the elevator themselves. Kate was suddenly feeling a bit overheated and removed her scarf to remedy the issue. It didn't seem to help because the problem was obviously still rearing its ugly little head. Okay, so the head of the problem was actually ruggedly handsome, but thinking of Castle was not helping the cooling of her flushed face.

By the time they made it to Pacha, the pair had casually brushed hands, legs, arms, and shoulders more times than either could count. Not for lack of trying, mind you. Castle was quickly making it a habit of guiding Beckett with his hand at the small of her back – a small, friendly gesture that was soon becoming something much more. They had a quick conversation with the bartender who detailed the events of the night for Beckett and Castle.

Melanie had arrived with a tall, blonde young man who sat at the bar with her for a time. The two ordered a number of drinks before a verbal fight broke out between them. It soon escalated and before the bartender had the chance to ask the young man to leave, he slammed down his drink, got up from the bar and left. Melanie had appeared okay after the incident and continued to dance and drink with a number of other regulars. She was there until closing, at which time she could be seen standing outside. When asked if she needed a ride home, she mentioned that a "friend" was coming to pick her up. She never mentioned who this friend was. This was the last anyone had seen of her at the club.

The partners, Kate now acknowledged Castle as her partner because she had realized that he was just as responsible as she was for their current success, grabbed a slice of pizza at the local pizza parlor on the way back to the precinct. Instead of getting their lunch to go however, they decided that it may be a good idea to spend the time discussing the case and facts at hand before presenting their findings to the chief or even Ryan and Esposito.

Rick grabbed a booth, some plates, cutlery, and water while Beckett placed their order. She slid into the booth and instantly relaxed against the backrest. Castle could tell that she was already extremely tense over this case and made a mental note to try and relieve some of that tension at a more appropriate time. Now, however, was not the time. After a half hour of in-depth discussion of the case, they dissolved into discussions of their personal lives. The current topic was Alexis, Rick's daughter.

Kate could tell that Alexis was Rick's world and she really respected him for that. He had a relationship with Alexis that she never got with her father. Kate could tell that Alexis tended to mother Castle much more often than he fathered her, but it was just his nature. He was definitely more of a big brother than a father, but when it came down to it, he loved and protected his daughter like his life depended on it. That was nice. She felt just the littlest bit jealous of Alexis because she had such a great male figure in her life. As a child, she tended to get her authority figures from school or from books. That is when her love of literature really arose – after her mother's death and her father's withdrawal. She envisioned a world in which characters from her books were real, but understood that such people only existed in story books. That was until she had met Castle. Although it may be a but cliché, she truly believed that Rick was her knight in shining armor. He was what she needed to come out of her shell that she had been hiding in for much too long. She was finally making her way out of her shell and she had Castle to thank for that. Not only did his creative instincts Maybe some day she would put her pride beside her and thank him for that. Today was not that day, however, so she threw herself instead into the conversation at hand.

"So, when Alexis got in, we were all really excited. I mean, it takes a lot of work to get accepted to Marymount. We pretty much had to apply for her before she was born. Now she gets straight As, is in bed by 10:30 on a school night, and does homework at launch parties. I'm not sure if she's really mine, because I definitely never did any of those things. I really miss the days of her childhood, spending all day with her at the park, playing games, and making forts in the living room. Before I started shadowing you and after Alex started school, I got pretty lonely during the day. It's nice to have something to do. Oh, and I guess spending time with you isn't bad either."

A this, Beckett pretended to be upset and playfully smacked Castle across the face. Before she could move her hand away however, Rick trapped her hand with his own and leaned his face into her palm. They were staring meaningfully into each other's eyes as a young woman approached their table.

"You're Richard Castle, aren't you?"

Castle, however, didn't seem to notice her presence, focused only on the woman in front of him. It was thus Beckett who answered for him. "Yes, he is. Do you want an autograph?" Although she answered the girl in a polite tone, she couldn't help her irritation at being interrupted. Her eyes never left Castle's during the conversation – her hand still held tightly underneath his own against his cheek.

"That would be awesome. Thanks." The girl moved to pull a book out of her oversized purse as Kate attempted to change Rick's focus of attention, which now seemed to be her lips. What was he thinking? She knew what she thought about every time she looked at his lips like that. But could it be? Would he really be imagining what it would be like to kiss her? She pushed this thought out of her mind and called his name. Since her previous verbal attempts to get his attention had failed, she decided to try something a little more physical.

Kate Beckett rose from her chair ever so slowly, leaned across the table, gripped Castle's face in the hand that was already placed there and began to shake it. This pulled him out of his reverie. Quickly grabbing the book out of the girl's hand and pulling a pen out of her own bag, she handed the two to Rick using only one word to get him to acquiesce: "sign." He did so with a flourish, just his name, no pleasantries. After handing it back to the girl, with Beckett's pen still stuck inside, he glanced back at Kate.

"We should get back to the precinct." It was time to get back and finish up their work for the day. The murder board would need updating and so would the other members of the team. Beckett hoped that Esposito and Ryan got something from their interaction with the school district that morning, but more than that, she hoped that this case would be solved quickly. She needed a break from Castle - everything was happening so fast that she had no idea how to handle it. For now, she would just continue to repress her emotions. Repress them until they became so intense that they would break to the surface. She hoped that this would not happen any time soon or that she had the ability to deal with them before it reached this point.


	4. Unsex Me Here

4. Unsex Me Here

As they arrived at the police precinct, Castle could not help but notice Beckett's current aloof nature. She had looked at him only when necessary and had barely spoken to him throughout the entire ride back from lunch. Concerned that he had upset her in some way, he wanted to comfort her, apologize perhaps, but he could do neither without knowing what he had done in the first place. Women were so hard to read. Instead, he decided to give her some space, thinking maybe she just needed a little time to herself. For this reason, Castle decided to offer his help to Ryan and Esposito on updating the murder board while Kate went to visit the morgue. She wanted to see if Lanie had made any progress since this morning.

Kate drove across town toward the morgue and her thoughts began to race. Why had Castle opted out of coming to the morgue with her? He usually enjoyed these trips more than society deemed appropriate. Why then, had he decided to stay behind with Esposito and Ryan? Yes, she had just been thinking that she need a break from Castle to clear her head, but she also wanted him to want to be around her. None of it made much sense, even to Kate. On the other hand, she was glad he had decided not to come, because this meant that she would be able to get Lanie's advice on her current situation. Sometimes, Kate just wished she were a man. They never seemed to have these emotional problems the way women do. Kate wished that she could rise above the situation and see it with a clear head, something she was obviously unable to do at the moment. She raggedly ran a hand through her choppy bob, sighing to herself. Hopefully Lanie would have some insight.

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"So it turns out that the third stab wound was actually the one that killed her. The murder kept at it, however, and impaled the blade into her abdomen, shoulders, and chest a total of ten additional times." At this, Lanie Parish, M.E., glanced up at her friend and coworker, Kate Beckett, who currently seemed enthralled with a specific spot in the ceiling. "There was no sign of sexual assault." Kate was still staring intently at the ceiling and Lanie got the impression that Beckett failed to hear a word that she had uttered. "Meanwhile, I have decided to quit the force and become a spokesperson for the ab roller."

At this comment, Beckett's attention was wrenched from the ceiling and to her friend's face. She quickly cocked her head to the side and wrinkled her brow in confusion.

"Just wondering if you were paying attention." Lanie shrugged her shoulders and returned to her postmortem exam.

"Sorry, I guess I am a little preoccupied with my thoughts." Beckett shifted her weight awkwardly from left to right, cautiously avoiding the subject. Dancing around the issue was a forte of hers.

The tone of Kate's voice was not lost on Lanie. "Anything _I_ can help with?"

Shoving her hands into her pockets, throwing her head back and closing her eyes, she whispered, "It's Castle," in a barely audible tone. Had Lanie not been expecting this answer, she may have needed to ask Kate to repeat herself.

"I figured as much. Look, I know the guy is supposedly annoying, condescending, and egotistical, but like I said before, you two would be good together. Besides, I'm sure it's all a façade anyway. It's not like you act like yourself when you first meet someone. I bet that underneath it all, he is just as insecure and needy as you are. You two need each other, really. So what's the problem?"

"I like him." Kate Beckett couldn't stop herself from moaning out this proclamation to the ceiling.

"And what's wrong with that?" Kate shot her friend her patented 'what the fuck are you taking about' scowl. Nothing could have described her emotions better than this facial expression at the moment. At the caring, concerned look on Lanie's face, however, Kate's own appearance began to soften and she started to lay her heart out on the forensic table in front of her.

"It scares me, Lanie. I haven't been in a real relationship since college, and well, you know what happened there. I just can't bear to be disappointed that way again." One hand wrapped defensively around her abdomen and the other propped against it, holding head steady, she looked as if she were about to break down in tears. Her face fell into her palm, leaving only a sliver of her right eye visible. As Lanie walked purposefully across the room, she subsequently removed her latex gloves and wrapped her arm around Kate's shoulder.

"Rick is a good guy Kate. You can trust him."

"I know I can. But that doesn't stop me from being scared, you know?" Kate's tilted head and pained expression reminded Lanie of a sad puppy, one that Lanie wanted desperately to help.

"Well, just take it slow." She unhurriedly and deliberately swept her hand out in front of the two of them in a physical representation of her verbal meaning. Looking Kate in the eye, Lanie told her, "Don't push yourself too fast. Starting a relationship is a big deal and a big change."

"But how do I get there from here? How do I tell him how I feel? What if he doesn't feel the same way?" The large sigh that she let escape her chest was the epitome of her pain and confusion at the current moment. "God, I feel like I'm in middle school." She let out a small, coarse laugh at this admission. Middle school had been an awkward phase for Kate. Her teeth were too big for her face and she was always a foot taller than everyone else. This was actually reminiscent of her current feelings of self-consciousness and self-doubt. She didn't miss middle school at all.

"Well, you sound like it too. Get a hold of yourself and think about it for a moment." Ticking her subsequent points off on her fingers, Lanie continued. "Do you really think that he doesn't feel the same way? Think about the way he looks at you. The fact that he hangs around all the time even though he doesn't have to. You are his _muse_ for god's sake. He obvious fell for you a long time ago."

Sighing and rolling her eyes, Kate responded promptly. "Okay, okay, I get the point. But what should I do?" She was already growing tired of this pep talk and wanted some action. Kate needed a plan. She crossed her arms, awaiting the M.E.'s brilliant idea.

"Well, for starters, you could let your hair down a little." Just as Kate opened her mouth to come back with a crushing response, Lanie make a tutting sound, signaling for the detective to keep quiet until she was finished. "You don't need to be in control of everything all the time." Lanie was using her hands in firm demanding gestures by this point – trying anything to get her argument across. Her right hand was held stock straight and she began to chop it up and down in the air in front of her. "You could also try not getting on his case for every little thing he does. He's bound to get tired of trying to get your attention at some point. Maybe compliment him. Let him know in little ways that you wouldn't exactly be opposed to starting something. Let him take you somewhere."

"Well, he did invite me to his next launch party, but it was just because I'm his 'muse'." Kate made an annoyed face as she placed air quotes around the word 'muse'.

"Are you kidding me, girl?! You are going to that party, and you are going to look damn hot. Sweep that boy off his feet!" Lanie was clearly excited at the prospect, and her exuberance was dispersing throughout the air in the small morgue, rapidly invading Beckett herself. Although Kate tried to hide the smirk playing at the right corner of her lips, Lanie could clearly see the amusement in her face.

"This feels like an episode of Dr. Phil. Not that I watch it, because, well frankly it sucks. Anyway, thanks for your input. I will put it to good use, but for the moment, I would rather cut off my own head and use it as a punch bowl than continue this conversation." She smirked at this, showing Lanie that although the subject was off limits for the time being, she still appreciated her friend's help in the matter. "So, thanks." Katherine Beckett left the morgue that afternoon with more resolve than she had felt in quite some time. She was in control. Whatever happened in the immediate or distant future was her choice and would be on her terms. She was ready for anything.


	5. What a Piece of Work Is a Man

5. What a Piece of Work Is a Man

Instead of making her way directly back to work, Kate decided to take a drive. By the time she arrived back at the precinct, a great deal of the officers and other detectives had already made their way home. Home to their girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, roommates, children, and what-have-you. Kate became forlorn at this thought, as it brought to mind the home she would be returning to shortly. Although it was impeccably clean and manicured just to her tastes, she knew she would give it all up at this moment for someone to go home to. She had considered getting a dog in the past – she had always wanted one as a child – but knew she would never be home enough to take care of one properly. A cat was another option, but she hated cats about as much as she hated getting her monthly bikini wax. You take care of a cat, you love it, feed it, pet it, and how does it repay you? By ignoring you and acting as if you don't exist. Stupid creatures. She was drawn from daydream as she approached her desk by the presence of the man who was currently sitting atop it.

"What were you thinking about just now?" His head was slightly tilted to the left and the expression on Castle's face told Kate that he truly wanted to know.

"About how much I hate cats." Waiting for his reaction, Kate was not expecting the loud, short burst of laughter that spewed from his open mouth.

"You never fail to surprise me, Kate. That is definitely not what I had been expecting." Rick carefully raised himself from her desk, mindful not to cause any papers or files to fall to the floor in the process. Now standing in front of Kate, arm proffered in an open invitation, he continued in his crisp, clear voice, "I was just on my way to get some coffee. Would you care to join me detective?"

"That sounds great, actually. Thank you." She took the extended arm and they pair made their way to the break room. It seemed as if they were the only two left for the evening other than the night janitor, Manuel, who was waxing the floors in a distant hallway – Kate could hear him singing Prince to himself as he worked.

As Castle began to steam the milk and brew the espresso for their lattes, Beckett made herself comfortable, or as comfortable as possible, in one of the unreinforced aluminum chairs that lined the table. He made quick work of the coffee while concurrently informing Kate about the evidence Esposito and Ryan had come across earlier in the day – nothing. The elementary school knew nothing about Melanie's supposed night life and mentioned her striking abilities as a young teacher. She had apparently had a great hand in winning the Title 1 Blue Ribbon for academic excellence in a low-income, high risk community. This characterization of Melanie stood in stark contrast against the person that Castle and Beckett had envisioned after speaking with the young woman's roommate.

"It's incredible that someone could have such different personas in different situations." Castle seemed astounded at the current slew of facts.

Beckett, however, as not so enthralled by the new evidence. Perhaps she would be if it weren't nearly eleven o'clock on a Friday night. But for now, she was tired, and she could deal with all of this tomorrow. After savoring the last of the frothy ambrosia from her mug, she rinsed it out, and placed it upside down on top of the machine itself.

"Castle, I think I am going to call it a night." She could almost feel the disappointment that was apparent in Rick's face. "Do you need a ride?"

His eyes widened and a boyish grin spread across Rick Castle's face. "A ride home would be splendid. I really did not want to grab a cab – it looks like it is about the rain." And with that, they two were off toward Beckett's desk where she retrieved her coat and keys before leading the way to the parking garage below.

Just as Castle had predicted, rain began to cascade down the windshield as they made their way out of the parking garage and onto the busy city streets of New York. After almost getting sideswiped by five cabbies and nearly sinking the car in a torrential puddle, Kate pulled into a rare parking spot on the street just below the apartment building in which Rick lived and worked. That is when he wasn't follow her around like a lost little boy.

"You know Kate, I think that this parking spot is a sign. It is virtually impossible to find one so close, especially during a rain storm. It means you need to come up and celebrate with me."

"Celebrate what, Castle?" She lifted her right eyebrow in invitation for the stupid remark she was sure was coming.

"The parking spot."

"Why would on earth I come up to your apartment celebrate a parking spot that I don't need unless I were to come up with you in the first place? You know, that makes about as much sense as Lorem Ipsum."

"Acutally, Lorem Ispum makes a great deal of sense. It is a form of Latin derived from Cicero's "_On the Ends of Goods and Evils_". Its… I'm digressing. It's a funny conundrum, but I want alcohol. Come up?"

Kate knew she would never again be able to resist the charm that Rick Castle exuded when he wanted something from her. "Fine. But one drink, that's all. Got it?"

"Got it." As they emerged from the car, both were immediately soaked to the bone from the current downpour that resembled a waterfall if nothing else. It reminded Castle of the days of his childhood, mud-sliding around the all boys summer camp his mother had insisted on sending him to in the 'mountainous' Pocono's. The rain there was always similar to this. The heat storms had been his favorite part of the experience, the way the thunder rolled in from the hills and the lightening lit up the night sky as if it were day. It sent a jolt of excitement through his body just thinking about it. They ran to the door of the building, even though it was no use. They were already completely soaked, no use in denying that.

"You know, I'm glad your joining me for a drink. I was worried about getting lonely up there on my own." As they entered the lobby, Castle shook his head to rid himself of excess water, watching raptly as droplets continued to cascade down Beckett's face a neck. The rain had transformed her previously beautiful brown hair into a jet black mess, sticking to the sides of her face. Her eyes that had formerly been framed with cat-eye shaped liner were now smudged and smoky. And thus far, Rick Castle had yet to see anything so sexy.

"On your own Castle? You live with your mother and daughter."

"Yes, captain obvious, that's true. However, my mother is currently traipsing around Europe with her current beau and Alexis is off in LA with her mother over spring break, so I am all yours." It was then that he noticed Kate's current stance. Her arms were wrapped around her and she was on the verge of uncontrollable shaking. He held her shoulders at arm's length in order to look her over before pulling her closely to his chest, hoping to transfer some of his body heat to her. "Look at you, Kate, you must be freezing. Let's get upstairs and we can change into some warm clothes and start a fire."

Kate had to admit that his offer was appealing. She simply nodded her assent. Rick rested his hand on what seemed to be his favorite spot, her lower back, as they made their way to the elevator and ultimately, Rick Castle's empty apartment.


	6. To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

6. To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Purposefully cranking up the heat as he swept through the door, Castle led the way into his apartment. Guiding her across the living room and up the staircase to a bedroom, he motioned toward a dresser covered in a large scarf, stuffed animals, jewelry boxes, and picture frames.

"As you can see, this is Alexis' room. I know she is shorter than you are, but hopefully you can find something that will fit. Feel free to wear anything. Let me know if you need anything else." Winking, he added, "I am heading down the hall to change as well, so just give me a shout." Ricked slipped out of the door and Kate slowly began to open one of the drawers on the dresser. Just then, he popped his head back inside the room, causing Kate to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Oh, and just bring your clothes down with you and we can put them in the dryer."

"Okay, thanks." Just as soon as he had come, Rick was gone. Shaking her head as if to clear it, Kate went back to the task at hand. She felt a little awkward borrowing clothes from a fifteen year old girl who had no idea such an exchange was even taking place. There was nothing Kate could do about it in her current situation, however, and decided to just go with the flow. Hadn't Lanie told her to let her hair down a little more often? This would definitely count. Going through a drawer full of pajama and sweat pants, Kate finally came across something that she was sure would fit – a pair of Pink sweatpants. These were of the variety that we supposed to be capri length and had elastic at the bottom. This meant that she would not have to worry about the length of this particular piece of clothing – they were supposed to be short anyway, right? It was then that it hit her that not only were her clothes soaked, but her underwear as well. She was obviously not going to borrow this particular piece of clothing from Alexis, but at the same time, she didn't want to wear the wet ones all night. She knew it would be awkward, but she had to ask.

"Rick?" She called out in the direction of the doorway, hoping he would hear her and that she would not have to leave the room to find him. She heard soft footsteps padding down the hallway. The next thing she knew, a shirtless Rick pushed the door ajar with his left hand while towel drying his hair with his right. He was wearing only a pair of black sweats that hung low on his hips. Shocked by his lack of clothing, Kate forgot her question for a moment.

"You wanted something?" He asked her quizzically.

Looking anywhere but at Castle himself, Beckett admitted her conundrum. Her eyes flashed up to meet his at the last moment and she wore a pained expression on her face. "I, um… don't have any dry underwear."

"Oh," stopping cold for a second, Castle looked as if he were confused. "Don't worry," he quickly added, "you can wear a pair of my boxers."

"I… what?!" Her eyes grew wide at the suggestion as she took a step away from him, backing into the bed and nearly toppling over on top of it.

"Well, Kate, it's either that or go commando. It's your choice."

Catching herself just in time, she took a moment to ponder her options. Rolling her eyes to the heavens, she replied. "Just make sure they're clean?"

"Right-o boss." And with that, he left the room for the third time that evening. Returning with inhuman speed, Rick placed a pair of boxers in her hand, smirked, and walked away. Making sure to close the door behind him, Kate began to remove her wet clothes that were currently stuck to her body. Sliding the boxers over her recently waxed, trim legs and up to her hips, she couldn't help but be a bit turned on. Although she assumed he had given her a clean pair (as per her requirements), he had clearly worn these boxers before. Perhaps they were his favorite pair – they did seem as if they had been loved. Pushing the idea of wearing his underwear to the back of her mind, she picked up the sweats and pulled them over the top.

Grabbing a camisole with built-in-support from another drawer and a towel from the adjacent bathroom for her hair, she began to make her way back downstairs. When she reached the bottom, she found Castle sitting on a simple, black leather couch in front of a fully blazing fire. As she approached him, she could fell as well as see his eyes rake up her body – from her bare feet to the spaghetti strapped camisole and up to her face. Of course, the telltale blush crept its way into her cheeks as well. Motioning to her wet clothes with a questioning look on her face, she effectively asked what to do with the pile. As he gracefully stood from his seated position on the couch, Beckett was able to check out Castle as well. He was wearing the same sweat pants as before and a tight, formfitting grey t-shirt. Kate wondered why he had even bothered to put a shirt on at all – it had the same effect as a naked upper body. Castle led Beckett to the laundry room. She couldn't help but notice how the sweats hugged what she could now see was a very firm derrière. Kate was definitely not complaining. Placing her clothes into the dryer and turning it on, Rick returned his attention to the woman behind him, shaking her from her thoughts.

"What sounds good to you? Mixed drink, beer, wine, shots? You name it. I happen to have the largest collection of vodka known to mankind." A slight smirk told Beckett that Castle was joking, but she had the feeling that his teasing was somewhat close to the truth nonetheless.

"Sounds good, but what will you drink?" Two could play at this game and Beckett was planning to hold her own.

"Gin." The smirk on Rick's lips showed her how much he was enjoying their banter. He was disgustingly happy at the fact that Kate seemed comfortable enough in his home to dress in loungewear and joke with him in his kitchen. He could definitely get used to this.

"Wine sounds lovely."

Grabbing a bottle from a wine rack behind him, Castle offered it to Kate in order for her to read the proffered label. "Merlot?"

"Perfect."

"Please, make yourself comfortable. I will be there in just a moment." Rick gestured toward the living room while grasping a corkscrew from a drawer to his left. Rick really loved to watch her walk away – especially in those Victoria's Secret sweats. They hugged her perfectly, like they were made for her. He was, however, slightly disappointed that she had opted to cover his favorite boxers. Rick had hoped that she would wear them on their own, but knew it was too good to be true. By the time he was done pondering the fact that she was wearing a pair of his very own boxers, he had removed the cork from the wine, poured two glasses, and made his way to the living room. Sitting down on the couch next to her, he offered Kate one of the generous glasses of wine.

Two hours later and three bottles of wine to the wind, the two were quite a bit past tipsy and delving into much deeper and more personal topics of conversation than they had started with. It was clear that Beckett would be unable to drive herself home that night.

Rick was lounging across the right side of the couch, right arm slung haphazardly across the armrest, left holding his wine glass in a way true connoisseurs do, and feet propped on the table in front of him. A small smile played on his lips. "What's your guilty pleasure?"

Without a pause, Kate answered. She had clearly thought about this question before. "Crime novels and whipped cream. Et tu?" Beckett was relaxed on the couch in almost a mirror image of Castle – apart from the fact that her feet were in his lap rather than on the coffee table. The picture they painted was one of almost pure domestic bliss. It was as if they did this sort of thing every night.

Looking down at his wine, Castle offered his dirty secret up for assessment. "SweeTarts and Saved By The Bell." Beckett's eyebrows almost disappeared into her hairline and she bit her lip to avoid laughing out loud.

"You watched Saved By The Bell?" Her voice was laden with the skeptical, incredulous tone that she did so well. "Why?" She asked, gesturing forward with her chin as if asking him to continue.

"I was in love with Kelly, or at least I thought I was. I was completely jealous of Zack of course, but who wasn't? Plus, the show was so uplifting. It dealt with real life teen issues while resolving everything by the end of each episode." At this comment, Kate could hold her laughter no longer and began to burst out so loudly that she nearly scared herself. "Don't laugh!"

"No, it's just…" In an attempt to control her laughter, Beckett took a deep breath before continuing. "I was jealous of Kelly," she admitted.

With a smirk, Rick continued his game of twenty questions. "Okay, Kate. Best shag you ever had?"

This question, unlike the former, was something Kate had to think about. She never really enjoyed sex to much of an extent. Maybe that is why it had never been a big deal that she didn't get a great deal of it. She didn't even have her first orgasm until college – that was always difficult for her. Maybe she just never found the right guy though. "None of them were memorable enough to mention. You?"

To Kate's surprise, Rick took the time to consider his answer as well. Although he wasn't exactly a prude, sex had never been amazing. He had always told his wives that it was because that was just something a guy was supposed to enjoy. Castle considered what it would be like to have sex with Beckett – something he had thought about quite a bit lately. "I have a feeling it's yet to come, detective."

It was her turn to feel embarrassed. She ducked her head into her chest, hiding behind a curtain of her hair in order to hide the blush forming on her cheeks. Castle always enjoyed the way Beckett blushed. It was something that set her apart from the rest of the women he had been with. They were never embarrassed about anything – they were too promiscuous to care. After recovering, Kate raised her head and met his eyes. "Longest relationship, other than your wives."

After taking in a breath and considering the question, Castle answered. "High school. Jennifer James. It lasted three years. And how about you?"

"College." This was not something that Beckett needed to consider. She had never had any relationships in high school and didn't have any relationships after college. "William. Two and a half years."

"Why did it end?" Two and a half years was a long time for a college fling. Castle knew the relationship had to of meant something to Beckett and thought that maybe this was another clue to her personaility. She had been hurt – not just by her mother's death, but by a man. He could feel his chest restricting at the thought. "Come on, Kate. Off the record, I promise. You can trust me."

Considering her options, Kate pondered for a moment before answering. She realized with confusion that not only did she want to tell someone about it – she wanted to tell Castle specifically. He needed to know what he was getting herself into. She was wounded and he would need to know about it, she wanted him to. "We were engaged actually. He had seemed so perfect – that should have been the tipoff, no one's perfect. It wasn't until three months into our engagement that I found out that not only was he cheating on me, but that it was with my best friend who also happened to be my roommate. Needless to say, I moved out and left him the next morning."

A sharp intake of breath told Kate that Castle understood the emotional ramifications that this event took on her. "I'm sorry Kate. You didn't deserve that. You are a good person." Bridging the distance between them, Castle leaned forward, grasped Kate by the shoulders and pulled him to her. At first, she stiffened, almost pulling back from his grasp, but she soon softened into his embrace.

"Thanks," she said into his chest. "So, favorite movie?"

"Moulin Rouge," he admitted.

Pulling back just enough to look into his face, Kate scoffed. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. And you?" Cocking his head to the side, he prepared himself for the worst. As long as she didn't say Pretty Woman, he could handle it.

"Breakfast Club." Not bad, he thought, pulling her back to his chest, but allowing her to turn her head in a way that allowed him a better sightline to her face. Her eyes really were breathtakingly beautiful.

"Oh, so you're a Molly Ringwald fan, eh?" He always loved to joke.

"What? I am sure you've watched Sixteen Candles at least once in your life, Castle."

"No judgment here, that's one of Alexis' favorites as well. I personally like the fact that the pretty girl falls for the bad boy at the end. Maybe you should take notes."

Shaking her head, she chuckled at the blatant plug for himself. "Shut up, Castle."

The conversation continued on like this for a time until both Castle and Beckett ran out of questions. It wasn't long before the pair found themselves drifting off to sleep.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The sun's rays filtered in through the venetian blinds, shining directly onto the face of the sleeping detective. As Kate Beckett awoke that morning, she couldn't help but smile. Unable to remember getting such a good night's sleep in such a long time, she had previously wondered if she ever would. Snuggling deeper into her pillow, she reveled in the delicious firmness of it. It was then that Kate realized that her head was not on a pillow at all and the feeling of arms wound tightly around her. Opening just one eye, careful not to move a great deal, she slowly peeked up at the face attached to her 'pillow' from underneath hooded lashes. Shocked, and yet slightly not, at the sight of Richard Castle's sleeping form beneath her, she smothered a gasp by turning her head into his chest before it had the chance to reach her lips. At her sudden movement, Rick's arms instinctively wrapped themselves even tighter around the detective's waist and back – pulling her impossibly closer, yet not uncomfortably so. The contented sound Rick made as he pulled her to him caused Kate to let her defenses down a bit and allowed her to simply enjoy the situation for a minute, snuggling back into his chest – that is until she noticed the time on the clock. It was nine thirty-seven and Kate should have been at work for over an hour and a half by now. This was not good.

Her attempt to remove herself from Castle's clutches seemed counteractive as it simply caused him to hold on tighter. "Castle?" she murmured, not wanting to raise her voice for the main reason that her mouth was no more than five inches from his ear.

"Mmm…" was his only verbal reply. His physical reply was what disconcerted Beckett the most. Pulling her to him, this time not into his chest, but upward toward his face, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead in a nearly waking state. Smiling at the simple unconscious gesture, she assumed he had intended for his daughter. Kate attempted to push herself away from him with two hands firmly planted on his chest.

"Kate…" he groaned. This caused Beckett to stop dead in her tracks. Was he dreaming of her? Did he know it was her he was holding in his arms? Would he be pleased when he woke to find her there or would he be upset? She had no idea, but hoped it was the former.

"Kate…" he moaned again, nuzzling the top of her head and planting kisses along her hairline. As he pulled her to his chest, she could feel her breasts flatten against him and felt something else entirely – something much lower – as she moved against him.

"Castle!" Calling his name, this time a bit louder, Kate used the conjunction of pushing and speaking to rouse Castle completely. He awoke with a stupid smile on his innocent face. After focusing on Beckett, his expression was one of surprise, which was quickly replaced by one that she could only place as pure joy.

"Good morning, Katherine."

"Good morning, yourself." She could still feel him against her hip. Although she had expected herself to feel embarrassed at the situation, it was just the opposite. It excited her, and that scared her, just a little. "I need to get to work Castle, it is almost quarter to ten and everyone will be wondering where I am."

"Oh, play hooky," he urged her, rubbing his hand up and down her back. "They can manage without you for a day."

"As much as I wish I didn't, Rick, I have to get up now."

Realizing that his arms were still wrapped possessively around her, he reluctantly removed them, allowing the detective to rise to a seated position between his legs on the couch.

"Why don't you grab a shower, Kate. I can get us something to eat and grab your clothes out of the dryer. Then we can be on our way. How does that sound?"

Simply nodding her head, Kate began to make her way up the staircase toward one of the numerous bathrooms. Just as she reached the top, Castle called to her.

"Oh, and Kate?"

"Yeah?" she said as she turned around.

"I had a nice time last night."

"Me too, Castle." Turning around, smiling, she made her way into the bathroom – muttering to herself, "me too."


	7. A Lean and Hungry Look

7. A Lean and Hungry Look

As she wrapped herself in a plush white towel, Kate Beckett carefully stepped from the enormous shower. If she hadn't been late for work, she may have taken her time to enjoy the relaxing pressure of the showerhead and the perfect, unrelenting temperature of the water as it cascaded down her back. Glancing at the counter, she smiled to herself as she spotted the steaming latte placed next to a pile her folded work clothes. Instead of bothering her that Castle had entered the bathroom while she was just two feet away, naked and behind a thin curtain, she found the gesture endearing. He wanted to make her feel comfortable in his home.

After dressing quickly and pulling a brush through her short hair, she made her way down the stairs. She could immediately smell and hear bacon sizzling on the stovetop and wondered idly what else Castle had taken the time to prepare. As she turned the corner, he came into view. Castle was flipping pancakes at the moment and Beckett could see a pitcher of orange juice on the counter next to a skillet of scrambled eggs. Rick had gone all out. She wondered if it would be like this every morning, immediately berating herself for considering even being present every single morning. It's not like they were dating or anything. She was sure Castle wasn't interested in that sort of thing.

It was then that Richard looked up from his work at the stove to see Kate Beckett looking at him. A lean and hungry look immediately overtook his features – one that had nothing to do with the food he was currently cooking. She looked incredible. Her hair was damp and she wore no makeup. This was the first time Rick had seen her without it and hoped that it would not be the last. She was so naturally beautiful that she didn't need to sully her face with such crap. Rick wished that he could witness this sight every morning for the rest of his life. They were the picture of domesticality and it sent shivers down his spine. Not shivers of fear or trepidation, but of longing. In this moment, Rick Castle realized that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this woman.

"Thanks for the coffee," Kate said, lifting her mug in his direction, a large smile plastered across her face. The look on Castle's face just moments before had not been lost on Beckett and it had lifted her spirits immensely. He wanted her, it was something she could no longer deny. She didn't want to either. She hadn't scared Castle off last night with her tale of a broken heart. It had in fact had the opposite effect; it had brought them closer – both emotionally and physically. That embrace had shaken her to the core. It was not an embrace of two friends but one of lovers. They just hadn't gotten that far yet.

"You're welcome." Looking her up and down, he quickly made up two plates of food and led her to the table. "Did you sleep well?" he asked as he took a large bite of eggs.

"Yes, actually," smirking, she looked up from her plate. "I haven't slept so well in a long time." As Kate took a long swig from her coffee, his phone began to ring. Without thinking, Beckett reached over and answered. "Beckett," she cut herself off before saying any more, realizing what she had done. Her eyes were wide with trepidation.

After a moments silence, a voice could be heard of the other end of the line. "Oh, hi detective. Is my dad there?" The unasked question could be heard in the young girl's voice, and yet Beckett could tell that Alexis was not upset.

"Uh, yeah Alexis, he's right here."

Reaching out for the phone, Rick smiled to his companion, showing her he was not upset by her answering his phone. On the contrary, he rather liked it. "What's up strawberry?" he asked into the phone. "Isn't it kind of early there? Oh, what am I saying, you went to bed by eleven, so you've had a whole eight hours sleep by now, right?"

Kate enjoyed listening to Rick speak with his daughter in this way. The relationship they had together was one she had always wished she could have with her own father. She wondered what Alexis would think if the two of them did end up getting together. Would Alexis like her? Kate had always loved children, but was afraid of how this teenager would take to her. Kate would love to spend time with Alexis – take her shopping, to lunch, what-have-you. It would be nice to form a relationship with the girl. She also wondered how Castle's mother would feel about it. Would Martha approve? Would she think that Kate was good enough for her son? As these thoughts ran through her head, Kate noticed Rick's gaze upon her. He had finished his call and she was unsure of how long he had been observing her.

"What are you thinking about?"

Shaking her head and looking at Castle, she replied. "Oh, nothing. Sorry about answering the phone. I'm sure she's wondering what I was doing here." Her face was pained and Rick could tell she was worried about the mishap.

Desperate to return the smile to her face, he quickly countered her statement. "Actually, she didn't seem to care. She likes you, Kate. I think she's vying for us to get together."

Kate's heart skipped a beat. His daughter wanted them to be together? "Why's that?"

"She wants me to be happy and she also wants to ensure her mother stays in LA. Two birds with one stone." Cocking his head to the side, he waited for Kate to speak.

"Would you be?" Feeling the need to finish the sentence, she added "happy?"

"Yes." His eyes were clear and sincere. His voice was light and husky. Kate found herself leaning toward him of no accord of her own. Their faces were inches apart when the moment was broken. At that moment, Kate's phone began to ring. Pulling back and glancing at the caller ID, she answered the phone quickly.

"Hey Esposito. Yeah. Sorry I'm running a little late." At this, she glanced at Castle, a smile forming on her lips. "Oh, no, that would be great. Yeah, no, I'll let Castle know and we will meet you there in twenty minutes. Okay. Bye." Closing the phone and placing it in her pocket, she glanced back at Rick. "That was Esposito. He said that they found Oscar – his last name is Andrews. They picked him up at work and are on their way back to the precinct. We better get going."

Nodding his assent, Rick picked up their plates and took them to the kitchen as Kate gathered her things. Pulling her coat on as Castle opened the door for her, the pair made their way down to her car and to the precinct in order to start another day.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Rick Castle was unsure of whether they were even in a relationship or how Kate would want him to act with her in front of others. Should he hold her hand? Would she want him to? Should he just revert back to the hand on the small of the back? That was always safe. As they walked through the hallway of the twelfth precinct toward Kate Beckett's desk, Rick quickly made up his mind. Grabbing her hand, he looked down awaiting her reaction. Kate cocked her head to the side and looked a him, a small smile forming on her lips. The moment was not especially long-lived, however as the pair heard someone ahead of them clear their throat. Looking up, they noticed the captain standing in the doorway looking quizzically at their interlocked fingers.

Quickly letting go of his hand, Kate stepped toward the captain and began to update him on the events of the previous day. Rick tried to hide his disappointment, but didn't do such a great job overall. She obviously didn't want other people to know about them, not that there was anything to tell, really. He made his way to Ryan's desk and asked the officer to update him on the events of the morning.

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Detective Beckett wore her steely expression as she sat across from a tall young man with short dark hair. Castle sat next to her, examining the man in front of him. "Where were you the night before last Mr. Andrews?" Kate was always right to the point. No need to beat around the bush.

Considering the question hurriedly, Oscar Andrews answered. "Um, I went to dinner with some friends and then met an old college friend at a club, Pacha. Why?"

Kate never liked to let the perp in on the story until she heard everything they had to say. It's hard for someone to come up with an alibi before they even know they need one. Thus, ignoring his question, she answered him with one of her own. "What did you do after you left the club?"

"I went home and went to bed." The young mans tone was becoming slightly upset.

Scowling and braving a quick glance at Castle, she continued. "What time did that happen?" she asked as she returned her eyes to Oscar.

Confused, the young man leaned forward, shaking his head as he asked a clarifying question of the detective. "What time did I leave or what time did I go to sleep?"

"Both." Beckett's eyes were now not leaving Oscar at all. She was waiting for him to slip up and when he did, she would be ready.

"Um, I left at about one and I got home and was in bed by two." Although his story seemed to mirror what the bartender had already told them, she was still not going to rule the young man out as a suspect. "What's going on? Why am I here?"

"Did anyone witness you sleeping?" This was the question Castle was waiting for. He loved it when suspects said they were sleeping when a murder took place. It was difficult to corroborate, but also difficult to prove false. It meant they would have to work a bit harder at this case. This was something Castle was elated about. The longer this case lasted, the more time he got to spend with Beckett. Who knew the next time a body would show up in the twelfth precinct?

"Uh, no?" The confusion of the young man was beginning to escalate. Castle guessed that it would soon make a transition from confusion to anger – most likely as soon as he understood what they were implying. "I said goodnight to my roommate when I got home, but that was it."

Castle couldn't help from jumping into the interrogation. "Let's just hope your roommate corroborates that." This guy was making it too easy.

"Why do I need a witness for sleeping? What are you even taking about?" Here came the anger Rick was anticipating.

Taking pity on the man and also ready to cut to the chase, Beckett laid it out in full for him. "Yesterday morning, the body of a young woman was found in a playground two blocks from Pacha. A miss Melanie Lamb. She _was_ the friend you met with at the club that night, was she not?" Raising her eyebrows, she awaited his response.

"Mel's dead?!" He was clearly shocked, however, it could have easily been faked – as long as the kid was a good actor, Castle thought. "Wait, you don't think _I_ did it. She was fine when I left her. I had nothing to do with this! She's my friend!" The boy was on the verge of tears and Castle resisted the urge to comfort him – he was a suspect after all.

The emotion in the room didn't even seem to phase Beckett, who continued as if nothing had happened. "A friend you got into a pretty big fight with just before you left. Isn't that right?"

"Look, we got into a fight because I told her that she needed to get her life into order - stop clubbing. She was really different than the last time I had seen her. It scared me. She got upset with me, told me I was trying to control her and she made me leave. I didn't want to ruin our relationship, so I just did as she asked." His anger was slowly dissipating and quickly turning into exasperation. This kid had quite the range of emotions.

"And you didn't see her again after that?"

Rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hand, he replied. "Yeah look, you can ask the bartender – I left around one and I never went back. I would never hurt her. I swear!"

In an attempt to get as much information as possible from the boy, Castle asked him a question. "Is there anyone else you can think of who may have been upset with Melanie?"

"No. She was really well liked." After considering for a moment, he continued. "I haven't seen her in about two years though, so I guess it's possible that something was happening that I didn't know about. Did you talk to her roommate?" He was obviously ready for the blame to be placed on someone other than himself.

"Yes, we have. That's all for now, Oscar. We may need to call you back in for questioning, but at the moment, you are free to go." Gesturing toward the door with her hand, she indicated his ability to leave at that moment.

"Thanks. Look, can I get a ride back to work?" Looking around him to ensure he had all of his belongings, he directed his question at the detective.

"Yes, officer Esposito who picked you up can give you a ride. He should be just outside."

As the young man left, Kate's right hand threaded through her hair, her head falling onto it as she propped her arm on the table. Turning Kate in her chair and he himself turned to face her, Castle leaned toward the detective.

"So what do you think? Is he telling the truth? He went to bed at two, but whose to say he didn't get up, kill her, and get back to bed before his roommate even got up in the morning?" The possibilities seemed to be endless, which excited Castle. Which path would they follow next?

Kate answered his unasked question promptly, causing him to stir from his reverie. "It's plausible. I guess we'll just have to check his story with that of his roommate."

Eyes lighting up, he leaned even closer to his companion. "Road trip?"

Making a move to stand, Beckett answered. "Guess so."

**End Chapter Notes:**

The current soundtrack for my life is the album "Little Jabs" by Two Hours Traffic. I downloaded it (legally mind you, off iTunes to be specific) because they played the song Jezebel on _Hedge Fund Homeboys_ and I fell in love with it. I have to admit that this song is still my favorite on the album, but they are all so catchy that I can't stop listening. Download the album (again, legally please). I know you will love it.


	8. A Horse! A Horse! My Kingdom For a Horse

8. A Horse! A Horse! My Kingdom For a Horse!

The car was silent as Kate and Rick made their way across town. Neither knew what to say to the other. Opening his mouth to break the silence, Rick began to ask a question. Just as the words started to spill from his lips however, Kate also began to articulate a question of her own. Both stopped immediately, waiting for the other to finish.

"Go ahead," Kate urged Rick.

"No, you," Castle insisted. Head cocked to the side, he waited intently for her to speak.

Chewing on her lip, she considered her options. "I, uh…" Kate stumbled across her words, unsure of how to express her worry without upsetting Castle in the process. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Why?" This question is not what he had been expecting. He had anticipated something related to the case and her actual question threw him off.

Not believing Castle's denial, she continued. "Uh, you just seem rather silent compared to your usual self. I'm concerned." At this, Kate glanced briefly at his face to gauge his reaction before returning her eyes to the road.

"It's just…" Thinking better of it, Castle cut himself off before finishing his sentence. "Nevermind."

"No, go on," she urged, glancing again at Castle. She had the feeling he was consumed by the thoughts of the two of them. After all, that is all that had been going through her mind ever since he had taken her hand in the hallway earlier that morning. The look of pure adoration on his face had permitted her a brief glimpse into his soul. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Castle was busy considering tactful ways to express his concerns about what was going on between them. He wanted so much to tell her his feelings, but was afraid. Afraid of how it would change their current relationship. He wanted to start something but was also afraid of losing what they currently had. It was always so difficult when you started out as friends. But it was those relationships, the ones that blossom out of friendship that tended to last. Kate Beckett had always been more than just a friend to Castle, but he had never wanted to admit it. Beckett could be cynical. He was worried how she would take his admission even now. Even after what had happened between the two of them last night. "Well, I…" he began, not knowing where he was even going with this. He looked out the windshield, not wanting to see her reaction. "Watch out!" he screamed. Beckett quickly slammed on the brakes and reverted her attention to the road. She had nearly run a red light and plummeted into oncoming traffic. It had been a narrow escape.

"Maybe we should talk about this later?" Castle suggested, giving himself more time to think and attempting to keep the both of them alive in the process. It no longer seemed like a good idea to discuss something so important in such an informal setting. He realized now that he needed to see her face when he told her how he felt. By putting himself out there, he didn't get the option of hiding behind a façade. She needed to understand how serious he was.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she conceded. Safety first. She was a cop after all. She could tell by Castle's nonverbal cues that this was an important conversation, one that she was not willing to let slide. They were going to finish the discussion – just not right then. At the moment, they were pulling up to the workplace of Oscar Andrew's roommate. The young man by the name of Christopher Walters worked as a teller at the Bank of America on Greenwich – only about a nine minute drive from the precinct on a good day.

----------------------------------------------------------------

After a quick conversation in which Christopher corroborated Oscar's alibi to a T, Rick and Kate were back in her car and headed back to the precinct. Castle's mind was racing. Thoughts of Kate were pressed to the back of his mind for the time being by all consuming thoughts of the case at hand. He really needed to think this through. He needed to find the answer. It was right in front of him, but he couldn't quite grasp it. This case was just so elusive. What they needed was another witness, someone closer to the victim, someone who knew a little bit more about what had happened that night. He needed to consider the facts at hand. Working it out in his mind was a bit more difficult than on his 'murder board', but he could do it. Fact: she had been unaccompanied from one am on. She could have been joined by another acquaintance at any point. Fact: things really started to pick up at the club around three am. She could have had an interaction with anyone during that time period without notice from other clubbers. Fact: she had called a friend to pick her up. At this, Castle's eyes grew wide.

"Aba… I… da… bada… a…" slurring his words into unintelligible masses, Richard attempted to voice his revelation.

Turning to glance at him quickly with a scowl on her face, Kate replied in a catty tone. "Spit it out, Castle." It was true. Katherine Beckett really did get cranky when she didn't have a suspect.

"Her phone." Rick stated this fact as if it was all Kate needed to understand his train of thought.

"What about it, Rick?" Beckett was slowing transitioning to calling him by his first name when no one else was around. It was endearing when she wasn't so upset.

"She called a friend to pick her up. If we check her phone record, we can find out who." Castle smiled at this. He was obviously proud of himself.

Beckett, however, was not impressed. "The friend never showed up, Castle."

"Not that we know of," he said as he leaned into the detective. "But that doesn't mean the friend didn't show up later, now does it?"

Kate turned her head toward Castle. At this point their noses were only centimeters apart, and yet, Kate didn't feel the need to pull away. Her brow was furrowed in Castle's favorite way indicating that she was concentrating on his comment. Glancing rapidly at the road before returning her gaze to his eyes, she nonverbally acknowledged the truth in his words.

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A brief call to the precinct told the detective that the only calls made from Melanie Lamb's phone that night were to two people: Oscar Andrews and Alice Hobbs. The latter was the only one whose name could be found on the call ledger at any point after midnight. This was their girl. Castle had been sure she was hiding something when they had interrogated her. He hadn't mentioned anything earlier because he knew how it enraged Beckett to assume things without evidence. She would have told him that there was a lack of mens rea - the act does not make a person guilty without a guilty mind. When interrogating her, she had shown no vicious will against her roommate. Perhaps there was something they were missing.

Castle considered the options. Why would Alice want her roommate dead? Maybe Alice liked a guy that Melanie had dated, maybe she wanted the apartment to be kept a little cleaner, maybe she was jealous of the life Melanie led. There were so many options that it was difficult to peg one down for sure.

"Why did she do it?" Castle wondered aloud.

Sighing loudly and rolling her eyes, Beckett contended the man sitting in her passenger seat. "We can't be sure she did anything until we question her again."

"Oh, silly Kate." Beckett shook her head at this, concentrating her attention on the road. Castle would never give up so easily. Once he had his theories, his conviction rarely wavered. "Why would she keep the phone call from us unless she was hiding something?" She had to admit that his reasoning was sound.

Kate, however, never gave in easily either. "Maybe it slipped her mind, Castle."

"Or," he challenged, "maybe she was deliberately keeping the information from us to hide her guilt."

"Well, we won't know anything for sure until we question her further, will we Castle?" He knew that tone. That was the tone that told him to keep his mouth shut if he wanted to keep his ability to reproduce. Kate Beckett was a woman to reckon with. What wasn't to love about her? Taken aback, Castle realized something he had not been aware of before – that he just may be in love with the woman sitting to his left. Smirking to himself, he kept quiet for the remainder of the short trip.

The pair parked across from Central Park, walking less than a block to the apartment building in which they would find their suspect. The short elevator ride was full of tension. Both were imagining what had happened the last time the two had been alone in this very same elevator. The way Rick had grasped her hand that day had wrenched her heart. She had realized how much she really wanted with him. She did not just lust after him, although she couldn't deny lust altogether. Kate felt an immense feeling surge through her just at the memory of the moment. Furrowing her brow in thought, she attempted to discern the emotion. Breaking her from her daze, the elevator doors sprang open with a ding.

Leaving Castle in the dust, Beckett rapidly made her way to the apartment door. Rapping on it piercingly, she called out for the woman on the other side. "Alice, open the door. NYPD." After a moment's silence, she tried again. When there was still no answer, Kate turned to Castle.

Castle had an oddly excited look about him. "Can't we just break it down?" His eyes twinkled in a genuine smile. The smallest things got him so ecstatic. He really was a child at heart. Brushing past him toward the elevator, she shook her head.

"We don't have a warrant, Castle. We don't even have just cause, for that matter."

Jumping in front of her as she pressed the call button on the elevator, he effectively caught her attention. "But what about the call?" He even had the petulance of a child. Rather than being endearing, this attribute just sent Beckett over the edge. Kate knew that she got a bit irritable when she didn't have a suspect and Castle was definitely not helping the situation at the moment.

"That doesn't mean she did anything." Glancing around the sulking man in front of her, she observed the opening of the elevator doors. Stepping around him, she made her way into the contraption and pressed the button for the ground floor. "We have to follow other leads until we can get in touch with her. You coming?" she added. Castle was standing motionless in the hallway, a look of deliberation on his face.

Breaking from his trance, he entered the elevator, barely avoiding the closing doors. "Other leads? Come on Beckett, we both know it was her."

As they made their descent, Beckett continued with a diatribe. "Castle, without substantial evidence, all we have is a theory." He always knew how to hit the exact right spots with her, she had no idea how, but he did it. "A theory may be just cause to you writers, but as a cop, I actually need to get proof. And until then, keep your panties on." They exited the elevator and made their way to the street corner.

"Oh, Kate," he said as he leaned seductively into her. "I haven't worn panties in years." His lips were actually touching the lobe of her ear by the time he stopped moving. "But, you know, if you wanted me to wear yours – I wouldn't object." Pulling away, he had a smug, sanctimonious look on his face.

"Good lord." Taking a step away from the writer to gather her composure, she glanced upward toward the police cruiser. "Holy shit!"

"What's wrong?!" Castle was obviously concerned. He had never seen Beckett get so worked up by his playful banter before and was worried that he had hit some sort of nerve. That is until he chanced a glance in the same direction Beckett seemed to be staring. Someone had slit the tires on her car. Not just one, but all four. "Holy shit is right!"

Running across the street and nearly getting hit by four cars in the process, Kate approached her automobile. "I… you… da… dab… da…"

"Kate, you know you sound a lot like me when you're frazzled. It's actually kind of cute."

"Shut up, Castle. Who the hell did this?" As if on cue, a young woman on a Vespa went flying past into the park behind them. The young woman just happened to be Alice Hobbs. "Shit, Castle, you were right and the suspect is getting away. What the hell are we gonna to do?!"

"Get the perp. That's what we do, Beckett. And I have the perfect idea. Come on!" Grabbing her hand, he pulled her toward a cop who had been eyeing the situation from a perch nearby. "Officer, we are going to need to borrow your horse."

**End Chapter Notes:**

Hello friends, sorry it took so long to update. I had a midterm today, but I think it went pretty well, so here we are. ;)

It has been brought to my attention that part of my story was similar to another on this site. I do read all of them, so if there are parts that seem to be repeated, it is obviously not on purpose. Thus, if this happens, I am sorry. It is not an attack on you or intended to be malicious in any way. As Beckett says, "this isn't a speech, it's not a platitude, it's a promise." It is just a coincidence. Please don't get upset.


	9. Wild Goose Chase

9. Wild-Goose Chase

_Previously on Method in The Madness…_

"_Shit, Castle, you were right and the suspect is getting away. What the hell are we gonna to do?!"_

"_Get the perp. That's what we do, Beckett. And I have the perfect idea. Come on!" Grabbing her hand, he pulled her toward a cop who had been eyeing the situation from a perch nearby. "Officer, we are going to need to borrow your horse."_

…

"Sorry buddy, but you can't…"

Grabbing Kate's badge off her belt, Richard Castle held it in the officer's face. "Kate Beckett, NYPD. Well, I'm not… she's… you know what I mean! We need your horse!"

Eyeballing the pair with a suspicious glare, the middle aged man slid from his saddle. Shaking his head, he handed the reins to Castle.

Gritting her teeth, Kate stared in the direction of the fast disappearing woman. "Castle, I don't know how to ride a horse!"

Sliding gracefully onto the horse's back in one swift movement, Rick held his hand down toward the detective. "Kate, don't you remember? Spring? Nude? Borrowing of a police horse? I'm a pro! Hop on." She tentatively placed her hand in his, and with that, he pulled her onto the animal into a position just behind him. He placed her hand on his abdomen, signaling for her to hold on. "This is gonna be a bumpy ride." As soon as she slid her other arm around his waist, the horse took off at top speed. Normally, police horses weren't the fastest of their species, but Castle would swear that this particular animal could have been a race horse in a past life. For fear of falling off, Beckett slid impossibly closer to Castle. Interlacing her fingers, she placed her head along side his, chin nearly resting on his shoulder. It seemed like no time that they were gaining on Alice.

Speaking right into his ear, Beckett questioned Castle's sanity. "Okay Castle, what's the rest of your plan? How are we supposed to stop her once we get close enough? You got a lasso hidden somewhere?" At this she patted around his chest and torso as if looking for the imaginary rope.

Keeping his eyes on the 'prize', Castle replied. "Nope, but feel free to strip search me later. Right now, however, you're gonna shoot the tires out."

Scoffing at his scheme, Kate leaned closer into Rick. "Castle, have you ever tried to shoot the tires on a moving vehicle? It's much harder than it sounds." No need to play coy. Kate knew that she had never been the greatest shot and was worried about her ability to accomplish such a feat.

Castle laughed. "No, actually, I haven't. But I know you can do it. You just have to believe in yourself, Kate." His words of support were spoken with such sincerity that Beckett didn't know whether to be flattered or entertained.

"What is this," she decided to go with a sarcastic reply, "an afterschool special?"

Rolling his eyes, Castle continued. "Just get your gun ready, would you?"

Sighing to herself, she made a move to grab at her holster. Careful to keep a tight hold on Castle with her left hand, she reached her right into her peacoat. With a tight grip on her gun, she removed the safety and moved it into position. Her first shot missed entirely, continuing until it lodged itself into a tree trunk.

She let out a large huff of air and Rick could almost hear Beckett sulking behind him. "See?"

Setting his mouth in a straight line and looking to the side, as if this would allow him to see the woman behind him, she chastised her. Sometimes she could act like such a baby. "I didn't expect you to get it on the first try, Beckett."

"What happened to your vote of confidence?" She was just asking for a biting, sarcastic remark, but Castle knew this was not the time or place and settled on encouragement instead.

"What makes you suddenly so self-conscious? Just keep at it."

Kate took aim for a second time. Her finger slowly inched down on the trigger. Just as the shot was about the ring out, Alice made a sudden turn, Castle following closely behind. Beckett, however, was not expecting such an abrupt movement and nearly slipped from the horse. The gun went off in an unplanned direction and the bullet flew within millimeters of her own foot.

"Castle!" Beckett screamed as she attempted to grab anything to keep herself on the horse. They say your life flashes before your eyes before you die. It was a lie; Kate Beckett was sure of it. All the detective saw now was the ground as it swiftly approached her face. A hand snaked around her waist at the last possible moment, effectively saving her life. Planting her in front of him this time, Castle continued his pursuit of the suspect.

Wrapping his arm even tighter around her in a sort of protective embrace, Castle spoke directly into her ear. "You okay, Kate?"

Rick's body was now wrapped around Kate's like a towel - a fact that made it quite difficult for her to concentrate. The fact that she had nearly died just moments before only exacerbated the effect. Kate couldn't breathe and it had nothing to do with how tightly she was being held. It was the man that was holding her that stopped her breath. "Yes," she managed to choke out. He was her knight on a white horse. Except for the fact that this horse was brown, it was almost true. "Thanks," she said. Kate thanked him not only or saving her life, but for being concerned, and for always being there for her when she seemed to need him the most. Her feelings were really beginning to get the better of her and she didn't know how much longer she could hold them in. With every bound the horse below them took, the pair rose and fell in tandem. It was as if they were one complete being.

"Okay, then. It's all you." Castle indicated the woman in front of them. Kate was ready to end this, but at the same time, didn't want to leave Castle's warm embrace.

Arranging her gun in front of her for a third time, Beckett took aim. It was much easier without Castle's large frame in her line of sight. She pulled the trigger and the bullet blasted straight into the back tire of the Vespa, causing it to spin out on the grass ahead of the rider.

"Good thing she was wearing a helmet," Castle called out as he brought the horse to a halt and jumped down from it. Holding out his hands for Beckett, he helped her down before quickly turning to Alice, who was in the process of attempting to escape on foot. Noticing this fact, Castle made a run for it, leaping in midair and tackling the young woman to the ground.

"Alice Hobbs, you are under arrest!" Glancing at Beckett with his trademark boyish grin, he admitted, "I've always wanted to say that."

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?" As Kate informed the woman of her Miranda Rights, she reached behind her, grasping her handcuffs and approaching the pair already on the ground. Castle hastily rolled off of the girl in order to allow the detective to cuff her.

After subduing the suspect, Beckett reached toward the man on the ground next to her. He was cradling his left arm as if it had been hurt.

"You okay, Castle?" The concern in Kate' voice was evident. It was clear to Richard that she cared much more about him than she was letting on.

"I'm fine," he insisted. "I think I fell on it, but it's nothing big. Want me to call the chief for backup?"

Smiling and shaking her head, Kate sighed. "I think it's a bit late for backup, Castle. But you could call and let them know we have the suspect and need to be picked up."

"Got it!" Leaping from his position on the ground, Castle reached into his back pocket for his phone and dialed Esposito's familiar number. This was not one he kept on speed dial. He had had only one spot open when he started at the precinct and only one person was important enough to make their way into his one-touch-calling system. This was someone that he called much more often than necessary and just happened to be the person at his feet currently sitting on a murder suspect.

"Esposito! Yeah, we've got her, but we need you to come by and pick us up. No, she slashed Beckett's tires. Were in Central Park right next to Turtle Pond. Oh, and Esposito, can you contact the Mounted Police and let them know where we are?" Javier was obviously confused by Castle's last question. "Well, there will be an officer wanting his horse back. Yeah, long story, just get here and I'll tell you all about it." Closing his phone and turning back to Beckett, he flashed her an award winning smile.

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Esposito arrived soon after the call was ended and the group made their way towards his car. It was then that Rick realized that they were not all going to fit into one car without someone riding in the back with the murderer. He was certainly not going to volunteer, but didn't want Kate back there either. Coming to a quick decision as Esposito helped the perp into the back, Castle opened the passenger door. Sliding inside and grabbing Kate's waist in the process, he effectively pulled her onto his lap and quickly closed the door - denying her any escape.

"What the hell are you doing, Castle?" She was clearly annoyed with his actions, but he wasn't going to give in.

"I'm not having you sitting back there with our murder suspect, Kate." He acted as if this was the end of the matter.

"Castle, it's against the law to sit like this. I'll just get in the back." She made a move to rise but Castle restrained her.

"You're the police, Kate. Can't you break a few laws?" She was not surrendering and Castle realized he needed to bring out the big guns. "Please? I'd really like it if you didn't go back there." He gave her his best puppy dog expression.

"I'm a big girl, Rick. I can handle myself, besides, she's cuffed." The perp in the backseat quizzically considered the interaction of the duo.

Esposito was standing outside his open door regarding their exchange with a knowing smile on his lips.

"Please, Kate? For me?" At this he wrapped his arms around her middle and pulled her against his chest. The heat radiating off his body and the sweet minty smell of the gum on his breath intoxicated her for a moment. She really did want to give in. It was so enticing. Sitting on Richard's lap, even for a stupid reason such as this, was exciting.

"Fine. But don't expect this to become a regular occurance."

"Yes sir!" Castle replied, settling his chin on her shoulder. Kate ignored the comment and stared out the windshield. Reaching to his right, Castle grabbed the seatbelt and passed it in front of himself to Beckett. "Click it or ticket, Kate." Grabbing the belt from Rick, she quickly bucked the two of them up. Esposito was now in the car and putting the key in the ignition. He knew what was good for him and decided to stay silent about the entire encounter. After buckling the seatbelt, Kate's hands went back to her stomach, landing atop Castle's. Smiling, he interlaced the fingers of his left hand with those of her right. He could definitely get used to this. The remainder of the trip was made in silence.

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They made their way through the hallway toward the center of the precinct. "Can you take her back to the interrogation room Esposito? Castle and I will join you in a sec. I just need to go over a few files." It had been a long day and it was only three o'clock in the afternoon. After this case was wrapped up, Kate needed a vacation. She realized that she wanted time away from everything. Everything that is, but one person. Maybe she would spend some of her time off getting to know Castle on a more personal level.

"Sure," Esposito replied as he began to lead the perp down another hallway. Castle followed closely behind Beckett as they neared the detective's desk. He was so close, in fact, that he did not notice when she stopped dead in her tracks. This action caused Castle to barrel into Kate, almost knocking her over.

"What are you doing here?" Following Kate's line of vision, Rick's eyes fell upon a man seated on top of her desk.

"Hey, baby."


	10. Cruel To Be Kind

10. Cruel To Be Kind

The man currently perched on Beckett's desk was a man Castle had never seen before – a man that he could not deny was handsome. The look on Kate's face told Rick that she had had a past with this man, which caused a surge of jealousy to rise within him. Was she with him now? Could this be the guy she told him about from college?

"What are you doing here?" she repeated, this time with quite a bit more venom in her voice. This stilled Rick's racing heart a great deal. She was obviously not with this man at the moment. Of this he could be sure.

"What? Can't a guy stop by to see his favorite girl?" The man slowly slid from the desktop and made his way over to the detective and the writer.

Castle's concern for Kate and confusion at the current situation manifested itself on his face as he glanced in her direction. He wanted to know how she was taking this. It would dictate his own reaction and feelings. Did she want this guy to be around? Castle's chest constricted at that thought. He had finally found the woman of his dreams, and the rug was about to be pulled out from under him. A permanent scowl took up residence on Beckett's face, settling Richard's nerves, if only a little. "No, Will, you can't. I didn't mean here at the precinct. I meant here in New York. And by the way, I am _not_ 'your girl'."

"Look, Kate," at this, Will made his way across the space separating him from Beckett and placed his hand upon her cheek, "you know you missed me."

"Don't touch me." She pulled abruptly away and consequently smashed into Castle's chest. "Besides, at this range, my aim is destined to improve."

Choosing to ignore her previous comments and actions, Will advanced toward the detective for a second time. "Don't try to deny it, sweetheart." As he reached toward her on this occasion, his hand never made contact with her body. He was stopped by the hand of Richard Castle.

"She said, don't touch her!" The intonation and cadence of his voice said everything Will needed to know. "And don't you dare call her sweetheart. She obviously doesn't want to see you." Rick's arm had made its way around Kate in both a protective and possessive manner. "So I suggest you get out of here before me and my boys get upset. Comprende?"

Will didn't seem to be the brightest bulb in the tanning bed. "Who the hell do you think you are, buddy? This is between me and Kate, so I suggest you back off."

Biting his lip, Castle considered his options. This guy was obviously in shape. Castle may have been able to take him, but the more likely scenario ended in him getting his ass kicked. However, what was on the line here was not his ass, but Kate's. He needed to know what she wanted him to do. Looking into her eyes, he found a pleading look there. A look that could mean any number of things. She could want him to back off – let her deal with this on her own. That would be most like the Kate he knew, but he wasn't about to leave her alone with this creep. He was way too invested to walk away now. The second interpretation of her facial expression was that she wanted him to intervene. Maybe she didn't want to handle the situation on her own. He decided that the latter was what he was going to act on.

"No, asshole, this is between you and me. And if you don't get your ass out of here toot-sweet…" His sentence was cut off by the man ahead of him.

"What are you gonna do?" Voices were beginning to be raised at this point and they were receiving confused glances from other cops in the precinct. "You'll ruin your manicure. What are you doin' with this guy anyway, Kate? He's obviously a putz."

"Better a putz than a douche." Glaring at the man in front of him, Richard continued. "Now get out of here before you regret the day you were born. I don't want to see you again." It was a bit melodramatic, Rick couldn't deny it, but it also felt pretty good. He had never felt the need to stand up for anyone like this before. He guessed that he had never felt this much for anyone either and that probably had a lot to do with it.

Shaking his head and scoffing, Will directed his gaze at Beckett. "I don't have time for this. Call me when you're new toy's off the rag."

"There's not a chance in Hell, Will." Emphasizing the man's name, Castle watched as he made his way across the array of desks to the hallway that led to the elevator and, eventually, the outside world. Unsure of how Kate would have taken his brief show of chauvinism, he quickly glanced at her. Turning her in his arms and pulling back just enough to see her face, he studied it. What he saw there concerned him. Beckett's shoulders were now slumped, one hand wrapped around her torso and the other propped against it, supporting her chin. Her index finger rested just below her nose and the remaining fingers formed a fist culminating against her lips. Her thumb rested beneath her chin. Her gaze was fixated on a distant spot that Rick cannot peg. Her stance gave her away. She was upset. That much was clear.

Walking briskly past her desk, Beckett grabbed a couple of folders before making her way toward the interrogation room.

"Beckett?" Castle's tone was one of concern. Kate, on the other hand, was not in the state to deal with him at the moment. Choosing to ignore his concern for the time being, she instead answered with a simple fact.

"We need to interrogate the suspect, Castle."

Stopping her with a hand on her shoulder, Castle shared a worried glance with Kate. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Castle. Right now, it's time to focus on the case at hand." With that, the detective entered the interrogation room. Castle followed suit quickly and without further complaint.

---------------------------------------------------------------

A brief interrogation of the suspect told them all they need to know. Between Esposito, Beckett, and Castle, they quickly got the information they needed. Alice had loved her roommate. Not in the platonic roommate way – she had been _in_ love with her. Melanie, on the other hand, had not seen the relationship in the same light. That night, as Alice picked her roommate up from the club, she had confronted her. Alice wanted to know why Melanie wouldn't admit to her feelings. It never occurred to her that Melanie had not felt the same way. Their conversation quickly escalated into a fight and Alice just couldn't handle hearing what her roommate had to say. This was when she had attacked, and the rest as they say is history. Love could be so one-sided. Someone in love with another could become so single-minded that it could turn to the point of recklessness. Richard was concerned. What if this situation was similar to the one in which he found himself? What if Beckett didn't feel the way he thought she did? What if he was one of those losers who was stuck in a one-sided affair? The curse of the un-loved. Although that would make a great book title, it didn't bode well for Castle.

Needing to know the truth, Castle approached Beckett as she typed up paperwork to close the case. "Kate," he began his sentence with no idea of how it was going to end. "I just… when you're done, do you wanna maybe come over to my place? I would like to continue to conversation from the car today." After a moment of silence, he felt the need to continue. "Kate, I really enjoyed the time we spent together last night, and I just… I want to talk." Still no response. Castle was getting worried. "Please say something."

The pleading tone in Castle's voice broke the daydream that Beckett was currently having. Pretending to do paperwork took so much out of her. She smiled at this thought. "Sorry, what did you day Castle?"

"Please call me Rick." The smirk on his face showed her the light banter that he was hoping would evolve from his comment, although she could also hear the serious undertone of his request.

"Rick," she amended. "What were you saying?"

"I was asking if you would like come home with me when you are done with that paperwork. I really want to talk."

"Um, yeah. That sounds nice." Glancing at the computer she gauged how much work had gotten finished during her brief trance. "I'm actually done. Is now okay?"

"Now's perfect, Kate." Grabbing her hand after she had logged off her computer, he led her to the elevator, both of their coats slung over his opposite arm.

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A few drinks to the wise, Kate Beckett sat on a couch in Castle's living room. The very same couch on which she had confessed the history of her love life the previous night to non other than Richard Castle. There she sat with the very same author, discussing everything under the sun. She could definitely get used to this. Vodka, Kate's drink of choice greeted her lips as she discussed the appearance of a man named Will earlier that day.

He had of course been the man she had referred to the previous night. He had broken her heart in college. When he showed up just after her admission, it had felt as if the universe were after her. Was it karma? Did she even believe in such a thing? All Kate Beckett knew was that she had no residual feelings for the man named Will and that her feelings for the man currently across from her ran deep. This was something that she needed him to know. The way he had defended her and her honor had caused her heart to swell. Esposito may have defended her in the same situation, but it never would have been to the extent that Castle had reached. She knew now that he really cared about her – not just sexually, but in a more general sense. He cared about her emotional, physical, and mental wellbeing. He wanted her. She could see that now and he needed to know she felt the same way. She just wasn't sure she could tell him when she was sober. Thus the Vodka. Alcohol was a social lubricant. One that she really needed the help of at the moment.

Deciding to skate around the real reason the two of them were even in their current situation, Kate asked a question that had been running through her head since their last case. "Hey, Rick?"

Glancing at her, one eyebrow raised, Rick Castle was ready for anything. "Yeah?"

"Well, you mentioned something the other day about caffeine and half moon poses." A smile on his face told her to continue. "I guess I'm just wondering if you actually do yoga, or it if was just a random comment."

"Why, yes detective, I do." At this, Rick placed his martini glass on the table and stood quickly. Grabbing Kate's hand, he led her to the open area behind the couch. "Would you like me to show you?"

Shaking her head and attempting not to laugh at his excitement, she pulled her hand from his. "I don't think that these clothes," Kate said as she gestured toward her ensemble, "are really conducive to a yoga session, Castle."

Looking her up and down, he responded quickly. "You know, you could always just take them off, Katie."

Chuckling to herself, she responded with a sardonic remark. "Yeah, Castle, right after you."

Castle's eyes widened and he took a step toward her. "Yeah?"

Rolling her eyes, and not expecting him to act on it, she replied. "Yeah." Always sarcastic.

Richard, however seemed to miss the mockery in her tone and began to unbutton his shirt. Kate's eyes widened to an impossible size. He was shirtless within moments. Another talent she could add to the imaginary list of things Richard Castle could do – undress within seconds. His belt was the next thing to hit the floor, quickly followed by his shoes and socks. Kate was paralyzed – by both want and fear. She watched, as if in slow motion, as his hands went to the button of his dress pants. Reaching out, she stilled his motions with her hand atop his. Taking another step toward him, she inhaled his scent. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips and she leaned her head toward his.

"Let me," she said simply. Removing his hands from the waistband of his pants, she positioned her own in their place. Gliding her slender fingers inside the top of his pants, she carefully unbuttoned them and slowly slipped the zipper downward. Grasping the belt loops on either side of his body, she gradually slid the offending garment down his body. As it reached the floor, he stepped from the legs. Tossing the pants to the side as she stood, she took in the sight before her. Gasping at what she saw, she placed her hands on his lower abdomen, slowly dragging them upward until she reached his neck. Lacing her hands into the hair at the back of his head, she pulled him toward her in a scorching kiss. As their lips met for the first time, Castle couldn't stop the moan that made it's way up his throat.

His hands made their way to the hem of her shirt. She reluctantly pulled her lips from his just long enough to allow Rick to lift the shirt over her head. Smoothing her hair back into place, Castle pulled her face toward his for another kiss. As his left hand lovingly caressed her cheek, his right slowly made it's way down her back. As it reached her waistband of her pants, he traced his fingers along the fabric until he met the soft skin of her stomach on the other side. Sliding his hand upward this time, palm flat against her and fingers splayed, he caressed his way toward her breast. He vigilantly outlined the black lace of her bra, carefully avoiding contact with such an intimate spot on her body. He wanted this to last. As his fingers reached the valley between her breasts, his hand continued upward. Drawing his fingers across her collarbone, his lips left hers for only the second time since this had all began. His lips smattered kisses along her jaw, down her neck, and to the collarbone his fingers had recently vacated. Kate could definitely get used to the feelings that he evoked as she moaned out his name in ecstasy. "Richard."

"Kate," he answered back, sliding his hand down her sides, resting them just above the waist of her pants. His thumbs made circular motions on her hipbones, causing her to moan out for a second time.

All of a sudden she felt a slight jostle and an odd floating feeling. Shaking her head to rid herself of this sensation, she felt arms tighten around her abdomen. Abruptly, she opened her eyes to find herself being placed onto a plush bed by Richard Castle. Sighing, she realized that it had all been a dream.


	11. In My Heart of Hearts

11. In My Heart of Hearts

Katherine's head hit the pillow and she felt Castle's hands being pulled from beneath her body. Her head was spinning, but luckily, she wasn't nauseous. He was currently removing her shoes. Castle could be so thoughtful at times.

"Castle?" Unsure of how much of what she remembered had been fictitious, she continued. "What happened?" Attempting to raise her body toward his, she soon realized it was a mistake and instantly lowered herself to the pillow once more.

He moved to sit next to her on the bed. Running a soothing hand across her forehead and into her hair, Rick spoke in a gentle, comforting voice. "Shhh, Kate, everything's fine. You fell asleep on the couch."

She had assumed as much, but was hazy on the rest. "When?"

"Oh, about an hour after we got here." His hand had not yet left her head and began to caress her hair. "You've had a lot to drink. You should just sleep it off now."

At his comment, she began to look around her. "Where am I?"

"You're in my bed," he informed her. "I'm going to the guest room, but if you need anything, just call. Okay?"

"No," she whispered, reaching for out Rick and grabbing him by the collar of his pressed dress shirt. She pulled him toward her before he could make any attempt to leave. "Stay with me." At the pained expression on his face, she began to beg. "Please?" She had never begged a man for anything before and was not exactly sure why she was starting now. All Kate knew was that she didn't want to be alone that night. That and that she didn't want to spend it with anyone other than the man she was currently holding close to her body.

"Kate," he pleaded. "You're drunk. I… I can't. You'd hate me in the morning."

"Please." This time it was not a question. It was a request. She was begging him, and it was one request he could not deny. "I promise to never hate you."

At this, Rick smirked. Kate was definitely a lovey drunk – not that he was complaining. Kissing her forehead as he pried her fingers from his shirt, he rose. Making quick work of this clothes, he stripped down to his boxers. "Scoot over," he urged as he nudged her stomach. Kate promptly obliged, making room for Castle on the bed. Slipping onto the mattress next to her, he pulled the covers over the two of them before slinging an arm across her waist and pulling her towards him. "Goodnight, Kate," he said as he planted one last kiss on her forehead before she drifted off to sleep, head against his chest.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Richard Castle awoke to find soft flesh beneath his fingertips. Opening his eyes, his breath caught in his chest at the sight before him. At some point during her slumber, Kate must have awoken. Castle knew this because although she had gone to sleep fully clothed, she was currently only wearing a matching black lace bra and panty set. He groaned at the contact as she shifted in her sleep, unconsciously rubbing against him. Her right leg was slung over his own, his hand holding it firmly in place. His right arm was wrapped around her shoulders, holding her tightly to his chest. It was definitely a possessive act. He wanted her to be his more than anything. However, now was not the time.

Castle was unsure of how long the two of them had been asleep, but knew that she would be no closer to sobriety than she had been hours before. He was not the kind of man who would take advantage of a woman like that – not even one of the many celebutants that threw themselves at his feet. Rick hated to admit it, but the only woman he had slept with since meeting Beckett had been his ex-wife; an action that had come back to bite him in the ass. Luckily, that mistake was in the past and he could currently focus on the beautiful woman in his arms.

He was not going to have sex with her – at least not right then. However, Castle decided it couldn't hurt to touch. He was already touching her, after all. His left hand, which was currently holding her right knee in place, began to slowly trace its way up and down her thigh. Every time Rick's hand neared her underwear, he turned it back around, continuing his exploration of her leg over again. He didn't want to take it too far. Richard's remaining hand made it's way to her hair and he began to wind a group of strands around his fingers. A small moan escaped Katherine's lips and she burrowed closer into Richard's chest as she slept. It was not long before he found himself slowing drifting back into a peaceful slumber. Castle was beginning to get used to this.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Startling awake, Kate Beckett found herself slightly confused. Her current situation was similar to the one she woke to just the morning before. This embrace, however, was quite a bit more intimate. She instantly discovered that the only garments covering her body were her bra and underwear. Castle was in the same boat. One of his hands was intertwined in her hair and the other was on her thigh. The latter was making slow, deliberate movements across her leg. She could tell, however, that he was not awake at that particular moment. Katherine had to admit that his caress did feel good. His lips were pressed against her temple as if he had been kissing it just as he fell asleep. The mere thought of this simple gesture made her smile. Liking the feeling of his soft lips, she tried not to move in order to maintain their contact.

She did, however feel inclined to run her fingers through the spattering of hair on his chest. There was a perfect amount there – not too little, not too much. She hated an overly hairy man but also disliked a man without any hair – it made the guy seem too young. Richard's chest on the other hand, was just as she liked it. Kate smiled to herself as she twisted the hair between her fingers. Kate's thoughts made it seem as if she had been with a lot of guys, which was not the case.

The effects of the alcohol were wearing thin by now, but she was sure there was no way she would be able to get Castle to believe her. It was probably for the best, she thought. They should get to know each other a bit better before they had sex. Although she could already say that, without a doubt, she was falling in love with this man, she didn't want to take anything for granted. Placing a loving kiss on his chest, Kate smiled as she settled back down to sleep.

---------------------------------------------------------------

The feeling of a light kiss on his chest awoke Castle from his slumber. The sun's rays were streaming in through the open window. His hand, which was still intertwined in her hair, began to caress her scalp. "Good morning, star shine."

Cutting him off, she finished his quote. "The earth says hello?" Kate smiled up at him, a jesting look in her eyes.

Feigning shock, he returned her glance. "How'd you know?" Kate Beckett knew show tunes. Just another layer to the Beckett onion. Except for the fact that not everyone liked onions. She was more like a parfait. Smirking to himself, her remembered the quote from Shrek. _I 'aint never met someone who didn't like parfaits. You ever hear someone say, hey wanna get some parfait, they say, hell no, I don't like no parfait. Everybody likes parfaits. Parfaits are delicious._ Castle idly wondered how Beckett would taste - definitely better than a parfait. He imagined that she would taste like sweet red plums and just a hint of tangy sweat. Her plump lips looked unbearably kissable at the moment. All he wanted was a quick taste.

Biting her lip, she rolled her eyes. "Just a wild guess."

Licking his lips as he watched her chew on her own, he slid his hand down to caress her back and shoulders. "Sleep well?"

Arching her back into his touch, she answered in a breathy tone. "Very. You?"

His fingers found their way to the chain of her necklace – the one that held her mother's engagement ring. Sliding it between his fingers, he answered. "So well. But waking up with you in my arms, detective, is better than any amount of sleep in the world." A blush crept onto her cheeks, coloring them a beautiful shade of crimson. Placing a finger beneath her chin, he pulled her face up to meet his. Richard lay a light kiss on the tip of her nose before pulling back. "What would you like to do today, Katie?"

"It's Kate," she corrected, instantly regretting it when Castle's face fell. "Or whatever." At this, a small smirk flew across his face. "I'm not sure. What would you like to do, Castle?"

"Well," he began, his small smirk turning into a full blow smile. Instead of telling Kate what he had in mind, Rick began to show her. His hand that was currently gripping her buttock began to slowly massage it. Kate jumped slightly as if she had forgotten that his hand was even in that vicinity. After the moment of shock wore off however, Katherine gently thrusting her ass into his hand. Castle felt her rub against him, causing him to become even more erect. At this, she pulled back from him a bit.

"Rick," she choked out. "Whatever we do today, I need to run by my apartment at least. I can't wear the same outfit three days in a row."

Removing his hand from her ass, he placed it instead on her bare waist. Castle much preferred the feel of her soft skin to the lace. Leaning in next to her face and taking the tip of her left lobe in between his teeth, be murmured. "Oh, I can think of something we could do that doesn't require any clothes at all." He finished his provocative statement off with a flick of his tongue on the edge of her jawbone, sending a shiver down her spine.

"I'm sure you can, Castle." Placing her hand on his chest, she attempted to push him away just a bit, giving herself a little room to breathe. "Right now, however, I need to take a shower and then we can decide on something. Sound like a deal?" She asked the question with eyebrows raised, just waiting for another witty remark.

Returning her gaze with one of his, both alike in dignity. "As long as I get to join you."

Shaking her head, she replied. "Yeah sure, Castle. Just let me grab my gun first." Another feeble attempt to extricate herself from Castle's arms was thwarted. Kate was not this frail. She obviously didn't want to win this battle, at least subconsciously.

"Oh, always so pessimistic detective?" Pulling out his best innocent look but failing one hundred percent, he continued. "Did it ever occur to you that I may need a shower as well?"

Kate sighed exasperatedly. "Yes, and isn't it lucky that you live in such a nice big loft where there are a number of different showers."

He pointed toward his bathroom door without turning his face from hers. "Oh, but you see, there is only one that works at the moment."

"You're just pulling this out of your ass."

"No, I'm not." Defending himself with an obviously guilty tone, Castle attempted to get a the heart of the matter. The problem was not that she wouldn't let him take a shower with her. The problem was that he had no idea why. "And why don't you want me to shower with you?"

The telltale blush crept into Beckett's cheeks as she attempted to act enraged. Castle, however, knew the difference. "Because we would never get clean." She was picturing what they would currently be doing in the shower and it had very little to do with shampooing her hair. Castle knew this and it just served to spur him on even more.

"Who says we need to?" He asked the question as he looked the woman in his arms up and down.

Sensing his attention, she attempted to get his concentration focused on her face instead of his current consideration of her underwear. "That's the entire point of a shower, Castle."

Reaching with his hand toward where his eyes had just been, he responded. "Oh, not the way I play."

Kate, however, was a bit quicker. She pulled away just as his focus was off, making it all the way to the other side of the bed before he could do anything about it. "Alright, Castle, you want to play?" The smirk on her face told Castle that he was in for something, he just was not yet sure what it was. "Let's play." Rick Castle's eyes lit up. He would play with Kate any day. "You can look, but don't touch." She slowly shock her head from side to side in time with her last comment. With one hand, she slowly reached up to brush the bra straps from her shoulders.

Leaving his sanctuary on his bed, Richard made his was toward the detective quickly. He didn't waste any time. At least not when it came to a naked Kate. "Beeeckeetttt," he whined.

Brushing his hands away, she took a small step forward. A motion that placed her within centimeter's of Rick's face. "Follow the rules, or there will be consequences."

"Promise?" She pulled away and Rick could tell that she was amused by the little game they were playing. He was, however unsure of how far she was planning on taking it. "Like I told you before, I would be happy to let you spank me."

Rolling her eyes, Kate Beckett turned her back on Castle. As she made he way toward the large bathroom adjoining his bedroom, she unhooked her bra and let it slip to the floor – giving Castle an unobstructed view of the smooth skin of her back. "Just get naked, Richard," she called without turning back. And for once, the author did as he was told.


	12. Was Ever a Woman in This Humor Woo’d?

12. Was Ever a Woman in This Humor Woo'd?

With a start, Richard Castle was jolted from his fantasy. He wasn't surprised, really. It's not like it was the first time he had had erotic dreams about Kate Beckett. It was however, the first time he had awoken with her in his arms after having one. Smiling at the thought, he tightened his grip around her, pulling her closer to his chest.

Kate had three days off from work, which excited her to no end. This was the second thought that ran through her mind as she woke from her slumber that morning. Second only to the feeling of Richard Castle's hand on her ass. That had been the first thing she had noticed as she awoke to the sun's rays on her face. She assumed it was late morning at least, but smiled at the thought that she didn't have to care anymore. She had nowhere to run off to and could spend as much time as she wanted in Rick's arms. At the feel of his morning excitement pressed up against her hip and his belabored breathing upon her head, she could tell that he was already awake. "Good morning, Castle," she said as she looked up into his hooded, lust filled eyes.

"Good morning yourself, Kate." The smile that formed on his lips was instantaneous as he saw the loving look on her face. "I'm glad I stayed here last night."

"Me too," she replied in s shy, unassuming tone. Kate tucked her head into Rick's chest to hide the blush from his inquiring eyes. Noticing this, Castle moved has hand from her backside to her cheek and began to caress it adoringly.

"Let's do something today, Katie. Just you and me." Castle expected her to pull back or shoot him some clever retort about not using that particular term of endearment, but no such action came.

Katherine smiled into the chest of the affectionate man below her. "Sounds good." Planting a kiss on said chest, she lifted her gaze to his as be began to lay out a plan.

Stringing his hand through her hair, he began. "Why don't we eat something. I will shower and then I can take you over to your apartment so that you can get cleaned up and change new clothes. After that, we can decide on something to do. Sound good?"

Pressing her head into the tender touch of his hand, she grinned. "Yeah, actually. Since you made breakfast yesterday, why don't you let me do it today? You shower."

"That sounds incredible. Thanks, Kate." As she rose, Castle pulled her back down to him for a quick, chaste kiss before pulling away and heading toward the bathroom. Placing her fingers lightly over her lips, Kate watched with glee as Castle exited the room. Throwing a small smirk over his shoulder, Rick dropped his boxers and entered the bathroom.

Eye's wide, but a grin still planted firmly on her face, Kate rose from the bed as well. She had envisioned Castle's ass before but was unaware of how toned it would actually be. Smiling to herself, she grabbed his button up shirt off the floor and pulled it over her arms, buttoning only the middle three buttons before making her way out of the room. As she descended the stairs, she considered what she would make for breakfast. Kate wondered what Castle would like. Sifting through the fridge, she found some eggs and decided that French Toast might be nice. After grabbing the ingredients from the fridge and cabinet, she placed them on the counter and began to cook. Halfway through the second piece of toast, she Kate heard a noise.

"Well that was quick, Rick. What? Couldn't wait to get back to me?" Beaming, Kate glanced up from the stove to find none other than Martha Rodgers at the other end of the kitchen. Martha was eyeing her with a confused, yet knowing glance. Kate, however, who was dressed in only a button up shirt attempted to cover herself by pulling the edges down over her thighs.

"Well, hello Katherine." Even at nine-thirty in the morning, Martha never ceased to fill the room with exuberance.

"Martha!" Looking around her, Kate attempted to come up with some sort of explanation for her attire and the fact that she was even there at that point in the day. "I… um… I was just…" Coming up with nothing, she settled on "want some French Toast?"

Smirking slightly, Martha glanced at the woman she knew to be perfect for her son. "No thanks, sweetie. I was just dropping off my things before heading out. But you and Rick have a nice day."

Kate was clearly confused. Her brow furrowed as she answered. "Okay. Um, you too." Before she knew it, Martha had left the room and Kate was left wondering what had just happened. It was then that she smelled the burning toast. Quickly, she spun to remove the offending item of food from the burner. After making a few eggs and frying some bacon, she set to work setting the table. By the time it was set, Castle was standing across from her on the opposite side of the counter. He was wearing a pullover cardigan and a pair of well worn jeans. His feet were bare. Kate had never seen him look so casual, but she definitely liked it. Kate walked around to him and Castle's breath caught in his throat when he realized that she was wearing only his shirt from the night before. One hand on his chest, she placed a soft kiss on his cheek. Kate gestured toward the table, indicating for him to take a seat.

"Everything smells lovely, Kate." As she placed their plates on the table beside them, Castle pulled a chair out for Katherine before taking the seat next to her. She couldn't help but notice how the shirt rode up her legs as she sat down. He had never seen such toned, long, gorgeous legs in his life. Rick assumed it had something to do with chasing perps around all day in high heels.

"Thanks. Oh, that reminds me. You're mom stopped by."

Choking on a small bite of egg, Castle attempted to regain his composure. "She what?"

"Yeah, I guess she's back from Europe," she said as she patted his back – attempting to help him dislodge the piece of food. "You okay?" At his nod, she continued. "She dropped her things and left again. That's all I know." As an afterthought, she added, "Oh, and well… she saw me in nothing but your shirt, so I guess you'll have some explaining to do. Sorry about that." Biting her lip, Kate stared at her plate and awaited his reaction.

Pulling her chin towards his own face, Castle reprimanded her. "Don't ever be sorry for wearing nothing but your underwear and my shirt. In fact, please feel free to wear the same thing every single day for the rest of your life." At this Kate rolled her eyes and returned her attention to her plate, taking a large bite of bacon. "Except I'm the only one who gets to see that, so you can't wear it to work." This brought a huge open mouthed grin to both of their faces. The pair did nothing but look at each other until Rick continued. "Anyway, sorry you had to go through that alone. What did she say?"

"Oh, just hello and that she was heading out again." With a wave of her hand, she disregarded it and finished off the piece of bacon still in her hand. "Any more surprise visits we should be expecting today?" she asked with a raise of her eyebrows.

After a few moments of contemplation, recognition struck. "Oh my god! That reminds me. What day is it?"

Wrinkling her eyebrows, Kate considered his question. How could he not know what day it was? "Sunday, why?"

Turning back to his plate, Richard answered Kate's question. "Well, Alexis' plane gets in at eight tonight." He wasn't sure what would happen between them once Alexis was back – and that scared him. Would Kate want to spend time with the two of them or would she rather go home? It was extremely important to him that Kate and Alexis have a good relationship. They were both extremely important parts of his life and he wanted them to mesh together.

Assuming that this was her cue to leave, Kate answered. "Oh, well… I can just head home then…" The disappointment was evident in Kate's voice. She had wanted to spend her entire mini-vacation with Castle. However, since his daughter was coming home after being gone for an entire week, she assumed he would want to spend time with her instead.

Immediately, Rick thwarted any further distress. "No way! We're spending the day together! Do you want to pick her up with me later?"

"Well, I…" His enthusiasm was catching, but Kate was afraid of what Alexis might think if Kate showed up at the airport. At the pathetic look on Rick's face, however, she couldn't say no. "Yeah, that sounds great, Rick."

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Once at Kate's apartment, Castle settled onto her plush Ikea couch to wait while she got ready. He assumed it would be a while. All women seemed to take an immense amount of time to put themselves together each day and he had no idea why. Castle personally preferred a more natural look on women, but as long as he got to be around Kate, he didn't care what she looked like. Anything worked on her.

Grabbing the remote and turning on ESPN, he settled back into the cushions. His ears perked up when he heard the shower start. The idea that she was in just the other room, naked, with water cascading down her body sent him into a frenzy. Gripping the armrest with a vengeance, he attempted to focus on the program in order to stop himself from joining her in the shower. They needed to take things slow. He knew that and he didn't want to push her. Rick was filled with relief when he heard the shower turn off. Soon she would be clothed and he wouldn't have to worry about controlling himself any longer. Castle was not prepared, therefore, when Kate emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but the smallest towel he had ever seen. Her wet hair was mussed and tangled and Castle wanted nothing more than to run his fingers through it.

"Hey, I was wondering if you could start a pot of coffee while I get dressed. The beans are in the fridge." At his silence, she continued. "It keeps them fresh." It was then that she noticed his line of sight was aimed directly at the high hem of the towel and that it was barely covering her. Self-consciously, she pulled on the bottom, wishing that this simple act could somehow make it longer. "Well, I'm gonna go get dressed."

And with that, she turned on her heel and fled to the sanctuary of her room. Before she closed the door, however, she turned back to see Castle still watching her intently. He had been staring at her ass. Of that much she was sure. "There better be coffee ready by the time I am."

As soon as her door was shut, Castle rose and made his way to her small kitchen to make her beloved drink. Her coffee was crap as well. He made a mental note to sneak an espresso machine in when she wasn't around. She would need it to keep up with him.

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**End Chapter Notes**:

Okay, okay. I know you all hate me for doing that to you again. I just wanted to show that the two of them are in the same boat (lets call it Pining) on the good old river of Denial. Don't worry. We may see some action soon. I'm not sure when yet. Anyway, please don't stop reading. I'm not sure how long this fic will last, but we've still got a ways to go. Stick with me. I promise you wont be disappointed in the end.

Also, I am completely jazzed because I am getting a puppy in eight days. So if I don't post for a little while after that, he is the reason. However, I will do my best to update every few days. My current theme song is _The Dog Song_ by Nellie McKay. I love it. :)


	13. My Words Fly Up My Thoughts Remain Below

13. My Words Fly Up, My Thoughts Remain Below

With no clue of where she was currently or even where she was headed, Kate Beckett sat in the back seat of a cab on the busy streets of New York City. Next to her was crime novelist Richard Castle whom currently had one of his arms wrapped around her waist and the other covering her eyes.

"What is with all the cloak and dagger crap, Rick?" Attempting to remove his hand from her face turned out to be futile, so she continued her harangue. "I don't get why you wont just tell me where we're going." The hand that had previously been working at his 'blindfold' came to rest in his lap.

Rubbing soft, soothing circles on her abdomen, Richard repeated his answer for what seemed like the tenth time in the last quarter of an hour. "Because, Katie. It wouldn't be a surprise then, now would it?" His last comment was marked with a mellifluous kiss on Kate's jaw line.

Attempting not to smile at the gesture, Kate settled into her angry voice. "Fine. But if you like your balls on the outside of your body, I suggest you don't take me to a strip club." Although this statement did little to curb Rick's enthusiasm, it did warrant a small chuckle from the cabbie up front.

Grinning like an idiot, he responded. "I didn't even know that was an option."

Sighing loud enough to get the authors attention, she leaned into his shoulder and resigned herself to wait. With her eyes closed, it seemed as if all of her other senses were heightened. The smell of his cologne was as potent as ever. Old Spice was such a turn on. Turning her head toward his neck and nuzzling it with her nose, she got a better sniff of his scent. Placing her head on his shoulder, she felt peaceful and almost at home. It was not long before she felt the car coming to a complete stop and Castle making a move to get out of the back seat. His hand had not moved an inch from her face and Kate wondered how he planned on getting out of the car without letting go of her. Her unasked question was answered just moments later when Castle wrapped his arm even tighter around her waist and pulled her onto his lap.

Shocked by his action but not exactly outraged, her face came to rest as a scowl. "What the hell are you doing, Richard?"

Placing a chaste kiss on the exposed skin where her neck met her shoulder, he answered. "Getting out of the cab, what does it look like I'm doing?" It was clear that Rick was enjoying the current situation.

Mentally rolling her eyes, Kate scoffed at his question. "Well, if I could see, I might be able to tell you. However, there is something currently obscuring my vision. Maybe you could help with that." Another fruitless attempt to remove his hand from over her eyes just got a chuckle out of Castle.

"Always a party pooper, aren't we Kate?" Sliding to the edge of his seat, Richard opened his door and stood – careful not to bump Kate's head on the way out. He nearly laughed out loud at how incredibly light she was. Castle attributed it to carrying a child – except for the fact that it was a full grown, extremely sexy woman whom he was currently holding in his arms. "Well, we are now at our final destination. What can you smell?"

Confused as to why Castle was still holding her to his chest, she answered. "Manure. Could you put me down?"

Acquiescing to her request, he quickly placed her feet on the concrete without letting go of her abdomen. "Close. What do you hear?" Although her feet were on solid ground, Kate could still feel her head up in the clouds.

Taking a moment to listen to her surroundings, Kate took notice of the fact that all she could hear was the quick beating of her heart and Richard Castle's fast breath in her ear. Straining to perceive something past these noises, she finally heard a new sound. "Children."

Grinning like a fool, Castle verbally prodded her. "Where do you think we are?"

Biting her lip in the appealing way that meant she was concentrating, Kate made an educated guess. "A farm?" It was the best she could come up with.

As he shook his head from side to side, Kate could feel his stubble gaze the sensitive skin of her neck. She always loved it when he didn't shave. It made him look more rugged and manly. "Nope, we are still in the city. One more guess or you don't get the prize."

Scowling, Katherine wondered what her companion could possibly be talking about. "What's the prize?"

Biting his own lip to keep his smile from extending off of his face, he exclaimed, "a kiss from me, of course!"

"Who says I want the prize then?" Kate inwardly kicked herself. Why could she not just say what she meant? She had always had the trouble of being too guarded with her feelings, even when she knew they were reciprocated. Katherine had also had quite a bit of practice with sarcasm. This biting wit was her defense mechanism in her youth. It just seemed to extend into her life as an adult. She needed to hide her emotions from others to appear less fragile. The problem now was that she wanted to offer herself up to this man. She really did. She just didn't know how. It was against her nature.

Richard used his own sarcasm to hide the sting Katherine's words left behind. "Ouch, detective. I am hurt."

"Yeah, you sound it." He actually was upset by her words, this much Kate could tell. Sometimes, Richard was an open book. At least to those who knew how to read him, which usually left just her. Concentrating not on the pain she had caused, but instead on the task at hand, she wracked her brain. "Okay. We are… er… Did you take me to the zoo?!"

"Bingo!" Castle finally removed his appendage from Kate's face allowing her to see the Central Park Zoo sign above their heads. It was then, however, that he noticed the mocking tone of her question. "Wait, is that not okay?" Smacking himself on the forehead, Castle turned around to hail another cab. "We can go somewhere else. God, I am such an idiot. I should have asked you first. What kind of…"

His tirade was cut short, however, by an innocent kiss on the lips. Kate had grabbed him by the lapel and pulled him to her body. The kiss lingered just a moment longer than their first had earlier that morning. "I'm taking my prize," she whispered against his mouth. Pulling back, she could already see the beginnings of a smile at the left corner of his mouth. "And, Castle, I love the zoo, so don't worry. I haven't been here since I was twelve, though."

Castle's eyes looked as if they were about to pop right out of his head. "Seriously?!"

"Yeah." Cocking her head to the side, Beckett considered him. She wondered what could be so surprising about not going to the zoo for a few years. Okay, nearly two decades, but still. "How often do you come?"

"A few times a year. We love the zoo lights at Christmas." Kate knew that by 'we', he meant Alexis and himself. He could possibly be referring to his mother as well, but Kate doubted that Martha Rodgers was the zoo-going type.

The thought of Christmas time brought a smile to her lips. "Yeah, I vaguely remember those."

Rick placed his hand on Kate's cheek and traced the lines of her lips with his fingers. He could definitely get used to seeing her smile this much. As his thumb stilled, Kate placed a soft kiss on the pad of his finger. "Well, Kate, is there anything you would like to see first? Maybe get an elephant ear? A hot dog? See the penguins? Lions?" At the mention of lions, Castle raised his hands like claws and made a playful growling noise in Beckett's direction.

"Giraffes," she simply stated, an enormous grin plastered on her face. If this was all it took for Kate Beckett to be truly happy, Richard decided that he would be willing to take her there every day for the rest of her life. After paying a quick admission and entering through the gates, Rick took Kate's hand and began to lead her toward where he knew the giraffe habitat to be.

"Have you ever been to Santa Barbra, Katie?"

Beckett bit her lip as she considered his question. She was beginning to like this nickname, even though she had never allowed another soul – not even her mother – to use it. Castle was different; there was no doubt about that. "No, why?"

Glancing at her, he continued to tow her down the sidewalk. "Well, they have a pretty fun zoo there too. I think you would really enjoy it."

Castle always left things so open ended. Kate wondered why he could never finish his thought without her prodding him. She thought that maybe he wanted to make sure she was really listening. Or maybe he just liked the sound of her voice. She guessed that it was probably the former. Her stoic façade could concern anyone that she was never really listening to what they said. Castle was obviously no exception. He, however, was not going to let her get away with it. "Why is that, Rick?"

"Well, they have this giraffe there, her name is Gemina…" There it was again, Rick's stall tactic. If he didn't start finishing his thoughts soon, Kate was considering giving him a little incentive – in the form of threats of violence. That always worked with Castle.

Shaking her head, she urged him to continue. "And?"

"And she has a crooked neck."

Curiosity got the better of Kate. "Crooked neck? Like tilted?" The confusion was evident on her face. Katherine wanted to understand what he was talking about. Castle had her on the end of his line and was slowly reeling her in – just as he wanted. It also helped that he really enjoyed giraffes as well.

"No, it's like there's en extra joint in there. She's got like a whole ninety degree angle goin' on." He sounded like a schoolboy. Rick's enthusiasm was catching and Kate soon found herself excited about something that may just be a ploy to trick her for some odd reason.

"I don't believe you," she stated.

"You don't have to believe me. Let's go!"

"Go where? Santa Barbra?" At a nod of his head, she asked, "right now?"

Castle shook his head from side to side. "Not right now, silly. We have to pick up Alexis tonight. We can go tomorrow. You have the next few days off right? What better than to take an actual vacation?" He was giddy with anticipation and Kate could hardly stand telling him no. She just wasn't ready for that. Not yet.

"Castle…" she began, but he cut her off.

"We just have to stay away from LA and we will be fine. Oh, I could take you to…"

Cutting _him_ off this time, she called his name. "Castle?!"

Shaking his head as if to clear himself from his thoughts, he looked at Kate. "What?" She didn't use his last name anymore unless they were on a case or she had something serious to say. He was worried to say the least.

"Why don't we just stay in New York this week? We can go to Santa Barbara another time."

"I guess," Richard replied, looking at his feet, "but you have to promise I can take you sometime soon." To say he was disappointed was an understatement, but at least she hadn't turned him down outright. She had said 'another time', had she not?

Humoring him and not wanting to worsen his sudden sullen mood, she complied. "Sure. I promise, Castle."

Head perking up at her promise, he glanced at the woman before him. "Pinky swear?" he asked as he held his right pinky finger out for her to twine with her own.

"What are we? In third grade?"

Jutting his finger out toward her again, he pled. "Just do it, Katie. Or I won't leave you alone."

"Fine." Reaching out the pinky finger of her own right hand toward his, she was about to intertwine them when he turned on his heel. They had almost passed their destination.

Pointing toward the animals on the other side of the wooden fence, he exclaimed, "hey, look – the giraffes!"

Chuckling to herself, Kate shook her head. "You have the attention span of a puppy."

Cocking his head to the side and giving her his patented eyebrow raise, he begged the question. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Not always." And with that, the pair observed the long necked mammals in silence, hands clasped between them.

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The rest of the day flew by in a whirl of animals and colors. Kate had to admit that it was probably the most fun thing she had done in quite a long time. It was nice to get back to the basics and to live like a kid again for once. It had been quite a long time since she had felt that way and in many ways, she missed it. Just being with Castle made her appreciate the little things in life and understand the importance of having someone there to share them with. Although Kate's thoughts seemed to be taking on the theme of a MasterCard commercial, she didn't care. All that mattered right then was her and Castle.

They were currently walking past check-in counters at John F. Kennedy Airport on their way to the security checkpoint where they would pick up Alexis. Her plane was not due to land for another half of an hour, but neither Kate nor Castle had wanted to arrive late, so they had given themselves extra time to get there. The waiting area was crowded with people. Kate imagined what it would be like to have someone she loved to wait for her like this. She wasn't very close to her dad anymore and didn't really have an important relationship with anyone else. Ryan and Esposito didn't count because they were her coworkers and Lanie never flew anywhere, so she had never had the need to pick her up at the airport.

As a flight from Seattle arrived and the passengers made their way toward the security checkpoint, Kate couldn't help but feel overwhelmed at the amount of love she saw. Mothers ran to their grown children - enveloping them in hugs, young children raced to the waiting arms of their fathers, and lovers shared passionate kisses. Something tightened in Kate's stomach as she realized that this was something she wanted. She wanted someone to feel that way about her. Katherine wanted someone that would miss her so much when she went away that when she came home, they would be wrought with anticipation for the moment she returned to their loving arms. She wanted that person to be Castle.

Looking at him now, she saw that he had been observing her. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing." Smiling, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his side. "It's nice, isn't it?" Castle wasn't just referring to the love that they were witnessing, but to the love that was obviously growing between the two of them.

Understanding the double meaning behind his question, Kate answered. "Yeah, it is."

The pair stood there for what seemed like an eternity before a strawberry blonde head could be seen bobbing behind a crowd. As the throng parted, Alexis came into sight – a giant grin plastered on her face. A grin that had a lot to do with the fact that her father was currently holding detective Kate Beckett close to his side in a loving embrace. Ever since Alexis had met Katherine, she had known that there was something different about her. Something she couldn't quite peg, but something that her dad desperately clung to. It was this characteristic that drew Alexis herself to Kate. She felt as if this woman was her father's soul mate, as cheesy as it sounded. The woman was good for her father. She was kind, passionate, intelligent, and would not put up with his crap – exactly what he needed.

Alexis couldn't deny the fact that the pair were perfect for each other. Even she wanted to spend more time with this woman she barely knew. Alexis hoped that they too could become friends. It didn't seem like too much of a stretch. She had the feeling that Kate would be in her life much more often from now on, and this excited her.

"Daddy!" Dropping her bags just as she passed security, she jumped into her father's arms, enveloping him in a warm hug. Her pounce nearly knocked him off his feet. It probably would have had it not been for Kate's steadying hand on his back. Sliding down his front, Alexis wrapped Kate in a similar hug. Shocked at first by the action, Kate stiffened. The reaction lasted only a split second, however, and she soon found herself returning the embrace.

"Great to have you home, hun!" Castle cooed as he rubbed a hand on his daughter's back.

"It's great to be home," she replied as she pulled back from Kate's friendly hug. "I'm glad you came, detective. My dad probably wouldn't be wearing matching shoes right now if you hadn't taken care of him for me."

Brow furrowed, Castle looked down to his feet. Kate on the other hand, was thoroughly amused. "Please, call me Kate, Alexis. And you're probably right. I think we are lucky he's even wearing shoes at all."

Scoffing at the interaction between the girl and woman in front of him, Rick decided to put in his own two cents. "Hey, now. I'm not that bad, am I?"

"Well…" Alexis began, linking her arm with Kate's. Not waiting for her to finish her sentence and taking this as his cue, Richard ran back to where his daughter had dropped her belongings. Picking them up, he raced back to where he had left them.

"Whose up for some food?" He asked as he returned to Alexis and Kate.

Sighing in relief, Alexis was the first one to answer. "I thought you'd never ask. Plane food is atrocious. I am famished!"

Chuckling at the young girl's advanced vocabulary, Kate agreed. She had not eaten anything since breakfast. They had done so much earlier in the day that they had completely forgotten to eat any lunch.

Rummaging around in his mind for an option, one came to him. Snapping his fingers in a gesture indicating he had an idea, he asked, "how does Kuruma Zushi sound?"

Clapping her hands together, she looked at her father. "Dad! You read my mind!" Turning toward the woman next to her, she asked "Kate, do you like sushi?"

Eyebrows raised, Katherine answered. "Yeah, actually. I love it."

"Well, then it's settled." Alexis, whose arm was still linked with Beckett's turned quickly and began to tow the woman away toward the exit. Nearly losing her balance, but catching herself just in time, Kate trailed behind without another word. Castle, a large smile spreading across his face, had no choice but to follow. Everything was going to work out splendidly.


	14. The Course of True Love

14. The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth

Dinner had lasted longer than expected. The group found themselves approaching Castle's apartment building just after eleven o'clock. Kate had enjoyed herself much more than she had anticipated. She really took pleasure in spending quality time with Castle and Alexis. Although it was cheesy, it really warmed her heart to see the incredible relationship that the pair had forged. As the cab came to a stop, Alexis said goodnight and made her way upstairs. Castle, however, needed to return to Kate's apartment in order to retrieve his car. As the pair climbed into Katherine's unmarked police vehicle, which they had left there from the previous night, Richard slid his hand onto her thigh. They hadn't touched much since Alexis had arrived at the airport and it was clear that it was killing both of them.

The ride to her apartment seemed to drag on forever. Both Kate and Rick wanted to be alone within the privacy of her small apartment. As her car slid into her designated parking spot, Katherine had a small bit of difficulty getting the car into park. Richard's hand had begun to make lazy circles on her leg, slowly inching its way up the appendage. After an excess number of tries, she finally slipped the joystick into the park position and removed the keys from the ignition. Before stepping from the car, she gazed into Castle's loving eyes and cupped his cheek in her hand. Nary a word passed between them. Both exited the car and, in meeting near the trunk, interlaced their fingers without a second thought. This night would be nothing like either of their dreams. The pair didn't feel the need to rush things between them. Whatever happened would happen, que sera.

Once inside the apartment, Kate went to her room to freshen up while Rick made his way toward the kitchen for drinks. Both seemed so serene in doing so that it was as if this was something they had been doing for years – spending their evenings together. Katherine smiled at the thought of spending years worth of evenings with Richard Castle. It wasn't exactly an unpleasant concept.

"Vodka, coffee, tea, or beer?" Castle called in the direction of her bedroom.

Beckett's muffled voice could be heard from down the hall. "Tea sounds lovely."

"Tea it is," Richard mumbled to himself as he set the teapot on the burner. It was an odd feeling for him, having to wait for the burner to heat up. Castle's stove was gas, which meant it was immediately ready for cooking as soon as it was turned on. That was something he would have to get used to. The whistling of the pot overpowered the sound of Beckett's approaching feet. Richard was thus, understandably surprised when he felt her slender arms wrap themselves around his torso and her cheek resting against the back of his shoulder.

"What kind of tea are we having?" she asked into his back.

Smirking over his shoulder, he placed a kiss on the top of her head. "What kind of tea would you like?"

"Anything is fine." Releasing him, she made her way to the cabinet, retrieved a box, and read the label to Castle. "I've got chai, hibiscus, Darjeeling, vanilla oolong, chamomile, passion fruit, and ginger orange," she listed. "Anything strike your fancy?"

"Well, yes," he admitted, "but it's not the tea." A lingering glance upon Kate's lips told her everything she needed to know.

As she pretended to ignore his comment completely, a blush crept into her cheeks. "I think I'll have chai." Grabbing two mugs from the adjacent cabinet, she placed them on the counter for her counterpart to fill. Pulling a chai bag from the box, Katherine placed it into one of the cups, leaving the tag hanging outside. "So, what kind of _tea_ do you want?" she asked him, making sure to stress the word tea and therefore thwart any sexual innuendos in their tracks.

"I'll have chai as well," he murmured as he reached across her body toward the box in her hand. Slightly grazing her chest in the process, he withdrew a tea bag and placed it within his own mug. Her sharp intake of breath at the contact told Castle that his actions were having a similar effect on both of them.

Leading her out of the kitchen with a hand at the small of her back, Richard sipped at his tea. "Why don't we watch a movie or something, Kate?" Stopping short of the couch, Rick made sure to allow Kate to get comfortable before sitting as close as possible to her side.

"What do you think you're doing, Castle?" Kate asked, head tipped to the side as she considered the man next to her.

"Sitting down?" He said it as a question, unsure of the reason for her inquiry. Did she not want what he thought she did? Concern etched across his features as he began to slide away from the woman next to him. Placing her mug on the end table next to her, Kate stilled his movements with a tight grip on his shirt. Even more confused than before, Richard attempted to explain himself. "I just… You…"

"If you sit down, who's going to put the movie on?" she inquired with a slight smirk forming at the corners of her mouth.

Rick's relief was evident as he let out a breath of air he had no idea he was holding. He closed his eyes briefly before opening them with a smile on his face to match the full blown one now etched across Kate's face. "I can't put the movie on if you don't let go of me, Katie."

Realizing that she had been slowly pulling him toward her body, she quickly released his shirt, allowing him to stand. After a quick contemplation of her limited movie selection, Castle turned to face the couch and it's sole occupant. "You don't have Dirty Dancing?" he wondered aloud.

Scoffing, she responded. "Oh, God no!"

A slight scowl flitted across Richard's features for the briefest of moments. "I thought all women loved that movie."

Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, Kate pursed her lips. "Well that's a stereotypical assumption, now isn't it?"

"Yeah, well…"

Feeling bad for her biting remark, she answered his original question. "No, Rick. I don't own the movie. I have an aversion to all dance films. Don't ask me why, but I have never enjoyed them as much as other women seem to. Save the Last Dance, Center Stage, Dirty Dancing, Shall We Dance?, they all seem insipid in their plots and never capture my attention." Stopping to gauge his reaction, she continued. "Why, do you like it?"

Chuckling at the idea that he would ever like that type of film, he answered. "Good lord, no. I was just wondering." Turning his attention back to the movie selection, he considered his limited options. "Wanna watch The Notebook?"

Reaching for her mug once again, Kate looked up at Richard, a confused expression covering her face. "You like The Notebook?"

"My taste in movies may surprise you, detective. I like to keep people on their toes. Like you, Kate, I'm not very predictable. So, The Notebook?"

Raising her eyebrows, she complied. "Yeah, sounds good."

Grinning, Castle quickly removed the DVD from its case and placed in the player. Kate, grabbing the remove from the coffee table, did the rest and soon previews began to flash across the screen. Richard resumed his seat on the couch, a small ways away from Kate this time – making sure not to invade her personal space unless she wanted him to. Sensing the space between them as if it were an entire continent, Kate bridged the gap quickly. She slid across the couch until her thigh hit his and her shoulder collided with his chest. Sensing what she wanted, Rick silently draped his arm across her shoulders and drew her body closer to his. The pair stayed in the same position for most of the movie, only moving when Castle leaned forward to place their empty mugs upon the coffee table. When he settled back into the couch, he pulled Kate even closer to his chest than before and she wrapped her arms around his torso.

As the movie came to a close, Castle took notice of a small damp spot on his shirt. The face of the woman in his arms glistened with freshly shed tears. Instead of embarrassing her by asking about it, Richard took it upon himself to make everything better. Releasing her shoulder, he took her face in his hands. Leaning forward slightly, Richard placed a gentle kiss on each cheek. He slowly peppered kisses up her face before reaching her eyelids, on which he placed two soft kisses before pulling back. "Sorry for choosing that movie," he simply said, resting one last kiss on the tip of her nose.

"Don't be sorry, I like it. It just makes me a little sad there at the end."

"I can fix that." Rick lay his hand upon her cheek and she leaned into it. As he began to stroke her face wiping away any residual tears with the pad of his thumb, a small smile began to form on her face.

Turning her face into his hand, Katherine kissed his palm. "I bet." Two little words. That was all it took for Richard Castle to make his decision. He wanted this woman and he wanted her now. Slipping his hand that had previously been cradling her face to the back of her neck, he roughly pulled her toward him. Not expecting such an abrupt action, Kate's face ended up, not before Richard's as he had planned but instead, smothered into his abdomen as she took an off balance nosedive into his lap. The pair was silent for a moment before the laughter broke out. In any other situation, their current position may have been awkward. However, the late hour and their lighthearted attitudes brought humor to the experience.

Kate's laughter was vibrating through her entire body as she gripped her sides. Rick, seizing the opportunity, decided that it was the best time to find out if Kate Beckett was ticklish. Still sprawled across his lap, he had easy access to her abdomen. Starting right at her waist, a common sensitive area, he began to tickle. It was immediately clear that he had hit the money. Katherine's laughter, which had been dying down, amplified into a fit of uncontrollable hysterics. Batting at his hands in an attempt to free herself, Kate squirmed in an effort to evade his ministrations. "Apples! Apples!" she called, in an endeavor to liberate herself from his fingers.

"Oh, no Kate, that's my safe word. Not yours." His tickling continued, causing her laughter to only escalate. "What's your safe word, Katie?"

Squirming to no avail, she admitted. "I don't have one!"

Leaning in close enough that she could hear his whisper and yet not so close that her thrashing body would collide with his, he murmured "well, I guess you're just stuck here then. Aren't you?"

"Come on!" Between bouts of laughter, Kate attempted to get a word in edgewise. "I…" Taking a breath between guffaws, her effort was wasted. "No, not there," she exclaimed as his hands made their way toward her neck. "Richard!" It was obviously her most ticklish place and Richard was hitting all the right, or wrong depending on the view, nerves.

They say that anywhere a person is ticklish is also an erogenous zone. Castle was unsure of the validity of this "fact", however, he was more than willing to try it out. Placing his mouth on the spot his hands had just vacated, Richard began to suckle at to side of Beckett's neck. Her body stilled as soon as she was aware of what he was doing. Although, she did not make any move to stop him. She subconsciously moaned as she intertwined her fingers in his hair – pulling him closer. Taking this as her assent, Rick positioned his left hand on her hip as his right cupped her cheek. Gently caressing her hipbone with his thumb, his mouth continued its way down to her clavicle. Spattering kisses the entire way down, his nose caressed Kate in a pattern similar to the one his thumb was making on her hip. Upon reaching her left clavicle, his tongue darted out to taste her. Even in his dream, he had been right. Sweet red plums.

Castle's hand that had been stroking her cheek began to blaze a trail down her neck toward the valley between her breasts. It didn't stop there. It continued its descent until reaching the top of her pants. At the same time, both of his hands began to make their way underneath the hem of the detective's shirt. He felt her stomach jump at the skin to skin contact, but as she relaxed, he began to move his hands upward. The closer he got to her breasts, the more forceful her ministrations of his hair became. It was clear to Rick that she wanted this as much as he did. Tracing the index finger of his right hand along the underwire of her bra, his breath caught in his throat. It was too good to be true. Castle was sure that it would all come to an end soon. He didn't want to push his luck with the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on. He wanted it to work. Upset by the sudden stillness of his hands, Kate thrust her back forward, effectively filling his hand with her bra clad breast. As Rick began to massage it, he could hear the moan building in her throat. A rapid flick of her nipple, even through the fabric of her undergarment, was enough to bring the moan to the surface. Her guttural cry, however, was nearly drowned out by the sound of her shrill cell phone ring.

Their motions stilled immediately as both Rick and Kate looked toward the offending piece of technology that was currently vibrating its way across the coffee table. "I have to answer it," she informed him. Submitting to her unasked request, he quickly slid his hands out from underneath her shirt and pulled away from Kate. The detective sat up and reached for the phone. "Beckett," was her curt greeting as she opened the phone, leaning back onto Castle's chest as she did so. Smiling, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to his body. Their physical proximity, therefore, made it impossible for him to miss the slight stiffening of her form after a reply on the other end of the line. "We'll be right there." Once she realized that she had said 'we' instead of 'I', she stiffened even more. It was clear that the officer on the other side of the conversation had also picked up on her slip of the tongue. "Yes, we," she said, covering up her mishap. "I will let Castle know and we will be there in twenty minutes." Esposito was the caller. Castle could clearly hear him as Kate laid her head back on his shoulder, eyes closed.

"Are you sure? 'Cause his apartment is the opposite direction for you. Want me to pick him up on my way?"

This seemed to get Kate's attention. Her eyes popped wide open and she lurched forward. "Esposito, all I want you to worry about is getting to the crime scene. Let me worry about Castle, got it?" She had put on her bossy tone that no man could argue with. Even if he didn't understand it, Esposito agreed and hung up the phone.

"We've got a fresh one," Kate said as she turned to face the man she was currently wrapped in.

Furrowing his brow, Castle cocked his head to the side. "But it's your day off. And it's 3:20 am!" Sticking out his bottom lip, he attempted to look pathetic enough to keep Kate to himself. It didn't work.

"Justice doesn't seem to care about that," she said as she attempted to extract herself from his embrace. "You comin'?" She was now standing, offering a hand to Castle who was still sitting on the couch.

Smirking, he retorted as he grabbed her proffered hand. "When have I ever turned down a murder?"

"Then get your coat. This one's still warm."

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As they approached the crime scene, Kate was shocked. The body was only yards from a side entrance to New York Downtown Hospital – the only hospital in Lower Manhattan. This woman had been just seconds from her own salvation when she had died – however, it was possible that she had just been dumped there. Pulling her coat closer around her to ward off the cold night air, she unwittingly bared her neck to the frigid air.

"What's that on your neck, Beckett?" Esposito asked as both Beckett and Castle approached him. Eyes wide, her hand went straight to the spot that Rick had been suckling just half an hour earlier. He had given her a hickey and she was pissed.

"Just a bruise, Esposito. Why don't you catch Castle up on this one while I talk with Lanie?" Shooting a death glare in Richard's direction, she turned on her heel and continued to where she could see Lanie crouched by the victim's head.

"Sure," Esposito replied.

On her way, Katherine pulled a small scarf from her pocket and tied it around her neck in an attempt to hide the "love mark" from her coworkers. The ME's body was obscuring Kate's view of the victim's face from the angle at which she was currently approaching, but it was clear that this vic had been through the ringer. The lower part of the woman's abdomen was partly ripped open by a deep, jagged wound. There were also were several incisions running across the abdomen, and three or four similar cuts on the right side. Beckett assumed that the same knife was used to inflict all of the visible wounds. It wasn't until she reached the body that she got a full view of what they were looking at. The cause of death was apparent. Her throat had been severed, almost to the spleen, by two deep cuts. Taking in the entire scene before her, Kate got her first real look at the young woman's face.

"Keep Castle out of here!" she yelled to anyone who was listening. A cacophony of footsteps signaled that her warning had been uttered too late. She spun around to find Rick just inches away from her body, Esposito and Ryan in tow.

Jesting, Richard jabbed her in the side with his thumb. "Why would you want to keep me out of here, Kate? Are you getting sick of m…" He stopped midsentence as his attention fell upon the victim before him. Eyes nearly the size of golf balls, he choked out "Alexis?!" before crumbling to the ground.


	15. What's In A Name?

15. What's In A Name?

A tangle of hands reached out to break the fall of the bestselling author. The pair that found him first belonged to detective Beckett. Bracing herself for the collision, she cascaded toward the ground with him as he fell.

Crouching down to her current level, detective Ryan began to speak. "Beckett, you okay? Why don't you let…"

Shaking her head, she responded. "I got it." Richard was in no condition to be moved and Katherine knew that if anyone would be able to get through to him, it would be her.

"But maybe we should…" This time it was detective Esposito who spoke, only to be cut off as his counterpart had been by the female detective at their feet.

"I said I got it!" She shouted toward the heavens or anyone who would listen. Her curt, demanding tone seemed to get the other's attention. All but Lanie Parish, who was still examining the body, backed away from the situation.

The young woman beside her, currently a Jane Doe, looked to be about seventeen years old – maybe less. Her strawberry blonde hair feathered out around her pale, unmarred face. The girl's eyes were open and even through the glassy opaque gloss that was beginning to cover them, she could tell that they were possibly the only distinguishing feature between the girl before her and Alexis Castle. Jane Doe's eyes were a dark brown, almost black. Alexis, on the other hand, had a beautiful set of pale blue irises. Kate knew this because she herself envied them.

Turning her focus toward the man in her arms, Kate held his face securely in her hands. "It's not her." The tender, reassuring words seemed to float past Richard's body, avoiding his consciousness completely, as he began to mumble unintelligible words to himself. It was as if he was in a trance, unaware of his surroundings; unaware even of the woman currently wrapped around him, holding him together.

Kate could discern only a few choice words including 'hair' and 'blood'. They were enough to tell her that Rick Castle was still under the impression that the victim before them was in fact his daughter. Unsure of how to get his attention without a denigrating ebullition, she instead cradled his head against her chest, murmuring the same three words in his ear over and over. "It's not her." Tears had begun to fall from his eyes, flowing down his face and onto her shirt, soaking it within moments. His emotional state was difficult to avoid and Kate soon felt her own eyes growing moist. Placing her chin upon his head as she continued to coo in his ear, she began to rock him back and forth like she would a child.

As the minutes passed, his murmurs increased in volume until they were at such a decibel that Kate knew she needed to take action. Reaching for her phone, she dialed the familiar number and waited with baited breath for someone to pick up the other end.

"Martha! Thank god! I need you to wake Alexis. I know she's got school in the morning, but Rick needs to hear her voice. We've got a new case – the vic looks a lot like…" Cutting off her thought, she allowed the older woman to get a word in edgewise. "Yeah. He's not doing so well right now…" As the woman on the other end agreed to wake her granddaughter, Kate wondered how she would explain the situation to a fifteen year old. "Thank you, Martha."

After just a few moments, a groggy young voice came over the phone. "Kate?"

"Alexis," Kate replied. Uncertain of how to proceed, she took a moment to gather her thoughts.

"It's okay, Gram told me what's happening, you don't have to explain. How is he?" Richard had always said that she was mature for her age, but Kate had never really seen the girl in action – not until now at least. Alexis was maturity reached far beyond her years as she took control of the situation. "Can I talk to him?" She asked of her newfound friend.

"Of course, that's why I called. You just need to know that whatever he says might not make much sense."

"Okay." Pulling Castle's face away from her breast, she held the phone to his ear. Leaning in toward the mouthpiece, and almost brushing Richard's lips with her own in the process, she spoke into the phone.

"Okay, Alexis, talk to him."

At hearing and seeing only Castle's reaction to his daughter's voice, Kate worried about what was being said and how he would take it. At first he seemed confused. Soon afterward, however, his eyes began to dart back and forth between the body beside him and Kate's face, which was still only centimeters away from his own. The tears began to slow and soon the mumbling did as well. The silence and apathetic look that took their place, however, did little to assuage Kate's fears for his mental wellbeing. Taking the phone back to her own ear, she spoke to the young girl once again.

"Alexis," she said, "he's doing a lot better, but I don't think it would be a good idea right now for him to come home. I promise he will be there when you get home from school tomorrow. Right now though, he is going to need some time to process what is going on. Okay?"

"But shouldn't I just…"

"Sweetie, everything is going to be fine and I will explain it all in detail to you later. I want you to go back to sleep now. You need to get some rest before school."

"Okay," Alexis responded. "But, Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"Take good care of him for me."

Raggedly running her free hand through her hair, Kate sighed. "I will. I promise." Smirking to herself, Kate ended the call with a Castleism. "Until tomorrow, Alexis."

"Night, Kate." After snapping her phone shut, Kate moved to place it back inside her pocket. A hand shot out and stilled her motion. Breaking from his reverie, Castle uttered just one word – the word that had begun this mess and the one that would end it. "Alexis." And with that, he burst into new tears. Kate knew that the tears he now shed were not for his daughter but for the young woman just yards away that resembled her so much. The young girl who was no more than two years older than his daughter and had lost her chance at life.

Letting these tears run their course, Kate cradled his head back against her. Affectionately stroking his hair, she allowed him to rid his body of the negative emotions. As his breathing returned to normal, she spoke to him. "Richard, you need to get up now." Nodding his assent, he rose with her. As soon as the pair was on their feet, Katherine's arm went around his waist – bracing him.

Over her shoulder, she called back to the detectives off to the side. "I have to take care of this. Keep me in the loop. I will talk to you about everything in the morning unless something urgent comes up. Got it?"

Without waiting for a response, Kate continued to lead Rick toward her car. Opening the passenger door, she helped him slide into the front seat before buckling him in and placing herself in the driver's seat.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

When they arrived back at Beckett's apartment, just an hour and a half after they left, the atmosphere was drastically different. Their mugs from earlier and the DVD case still sat on the coffee table, waiting to be put in their proper place. Right now, however, these items were not Kate's main worry.

Leading Castle to her bedroom, she pulled back the covers before carefully pushing him backward. As his knees hit the bed, he naturally fell into a seated position. Bending down, Kate removed his shoes and socks. She stood then and pulled Castle back to standing in order to remove his pants. It was as if he were a life size doll for all of the interaction that was happening on his end. Making quick work of the belt buckle, she carefully unbuttoned and unzipped his pants before allowing them to drop to the floor. In the back of her mind, Kate knew that were the situation different in any way, the simple act of removing his clothes for him would be erotic. Currently, however, sexuality had not one thing to do with what was happening. It was more of a loving, caring, motherly gesture than anything else.

As she placed a light shove on his chest, Rick returned to his seated position. Unbuttoning his shirt, she slid it from his arms and pulled his undershirt up over his head – leaving him in nothing but his boxers. Kate knew that this was how he preferred to sleep. She rapidly shed her own clothes and changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top before climbing into bed behind him. Kate propped a number of pillows beside the headboard and situated herself against them. Pulling Richard backward, his back against her chest, she wrapped her arms around his upper arms and chest, her legs around his waist, and placed her head upon his shoulder. Humming softly to him, she began to rock slowly to and fro until she could feel the grown man begin to fall asleep in her arms. As his breathing slowed, so did hers – as if they were only one person. It was not long before she too felt herself slipping into oblivion.

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Castle awoke only once during the night – with a jolt. A guttural moan escaped his lips and he could feel moisture on his cheeks.

"Shhh…" came a calming voice from behind him. "It's okay Richard. I'm here." It was Kate. He was wrapped tightly in a tangle of her limbs. He had had a nightmare, although the plot evaded his memory. All he knew was that it wasn't good. He could feel his breath constricting in his chest as he tried in vain to remember.

His thoughts were cut short however, as a dainty hand began to rub soothing circles on his chest and a beautiful Alto-Mezzo Soprano voice filled the air. Beckett was signing him back to sleep.

"There are places I remember, all my life, though some have changed…"

Richard knew the song right away – _There Are Places I Remember_ by the Beatles. Closing his eyes, he allowed the song to fill his conscious mind. Rick would have never known that such a breathtakingly beautiful voice could have come from the woman currently cradling him. It was just one more thing to love about her – not that he needed anything else.

"…But of all these friends and lovers, there is no one compares with you…"

This verse struck a chord within Castle and he wondered if Kate had chosen this song on purpose – to relay a certain message to him – or if it was possibly just one of her favorites as it was one of his. He wordlessly prayed that it was the former.

The last line he heard before drifting back to sleep was "in my life, I love you more." True, he thought to himself – of all his lovers and friends, no one held a candle to Katherine – he loved her more than any of the rest combined. He silently chanted this to himself as he floated into unconsciousness. "I love you more."

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Kate Beckett's bedroom was impeccably clean. Everything seemed to have its place. Richard smiled a he considered how this fit perfectly with her personality. His thoughts were discontinued however, when he realized that she was not in his arms this morning – he was in hers. It was then that the night's events came flooding back to him with impeccable clarity. The young girl had looked so much like his own daughter. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had known it wasn't Alexis, but his conscious mind didn't seem to believe it. Kate had been his rock. No matter what happened in his life from now on, Richard could be sure that one thing would remain the same. Kate would always be his friend. She would tell him the truth, even when his world was falling apart. She had become his constant. His touchstone.

Turning in Katherine's arms, he reversed their positions without waking her. Laying her on her stomach against his own, he placed her head upon his chest. With one hand at her back and the other on the side of her head, he began to rub small circles upon her cheek.

Slowly coming to consciousness, Kate felt the light touch upon her cheek. Smiling as she opened her eyes, she found herself face to face with Richard.

"Morning, Katie," he murmured before placing a gentle kiss upon her forehead. "How did you sleep?"

Shaking her head as much as her current position would allow, she considered the man before her. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He looked much more cheerful than should be expected after going through what he had just the night before. Needless to say, Kate was worried about Castle's mental state.

Ignoring her scrutiny, he replied. "Yeah, I guess so. I'm better now, thanks." As if he had an epiphany, he suddenly remembered a key point in the night. Holding her face in his hands so that she was looking directly into his eyes, she spoke. "Oh, and by the way – you have the most beautiful singing voice I have ever heard."

Blushing profusely, she burrowed her face into his chest. "You remember that?"

Smirking to himself, he stroked her hair. "Of course I remember it, Kate. It was very unforgettable. It is also one of my favorite songs, by the way. Feel free to sing me to sleep every night." His smirk only grew wider as she recovered from her brief stab of embarrassment.

Looking back into his eyes, she smiled. "It's one of my favorites t…" Her sentence was cut short when his words registered in her mind. "Every night?" Had they already reached that point where they would be spending every night in each other's beds? Thinking back, they had spent the last three consecutive nights in each others arms. It did seem as if they were headed in that direction. As Kate considered it, she realized that she too wanted to spend every night with Richard. And if he wanted her to sing him to sleep, she would. However, maybe not every night. Hopefully, at some point in the near future, a post coital bliss would drag them both into unconscious oblivion at night.

Her question did not seem to phase Richard at all. "Yep. Oh, speaking of which, I am starving. How about you?" Cocking his head to the side, he awaited her answer.

A confused look overtook Katherine's face. "Speaking of which? How is _that_ a speaking of which?"

Rolling his eyes as if it was obvious, Castle explained his train of thought. "If we spend every night together, then we spend every morning together. That means we eat breakfast together as well. Which leads to the 'speaking of which' in which I asked if you would like some breakfast. Makes complete sense."

Mumbling to herself, Kate shook her head. "There's the Rick I love." Her eyes widened as she realized her slip of the tongue.

Without fully listening to what she had just said, Rick continued. "Yeah, well I…" Stopping as he too realized the true weight of the words that had just been uttered, Rick sat up, bringing Kate with him. "Love?" he asked, an incredulous look on his face.

Mortified beyond belief, Katherine chewed lightly on her bottom lip before jumping from bed and turning toward the door.


	16. A Better World Than This

16. A Better World Than This

A hand closed around Kate Beckett's right wrist, stopping her from moving any farther from her bed.

"Kate?" Castle asked, the pain evident in his voice. What type of pain, Katherine was not sure. This uncertainty is what kept her from turning around. Did he reciprocate her feelings and was hurt by her reaction to her own words? Or was it possible that he did not feel as strongly about her as she did him? Could the pain in his voice be at the impending need to tell her that he did not in fact love her as she seemed to love him? Did she want more out of this relationship than he had bargained for? The sting of a possible rejection burned at her heart. Realizing that she needed to give him an answer to his ill-formed questions, she scrunched her eyes closed and bit her lip for a final time before spinning to face Richard.

The look she found in his eyes, as she searched them for some idea as to his emotions, left her wondering. Although she prided herself for her ability to understand him, Rick Castle was the opposite of an open book. He was extremely difficult to read at times and always seemed to surprise her. "Yes," she said, closing her eyes so she didn't have to see his reaction.

"Yes, what?" Although she couldn't see it, she could hear the smile in his words.

He knew what she meant and his need for specification was more than a bit annoying to Kate, whose eyes were still closed. "Yes, I meant it," she said, arms at her sides, fingers clenched into fists, awaiting the worst.

He just didn't have it in him to assume the pertinent information. Kate's nerves were put to the test once again when he asked another specifying question. They both knew what she had intended to convey with her previous words. Why couldn't he just leave it at that? "You meant what?"

Kate realized that he wanted her to say it – those three little words. Her temper getting the better of her, she nearly screamed her proclamation toward the man on the bed. "I love you, god damn it!"

She felt the hand at her wrist drop and just as she was about to open her eyes, she felt something else. Richard Castle was kissing her. This kiss was nothing like the previous two they had shared. It was full of passion, wanting, need, and most of all, love. This was Rick's way of returning her proclamation. She moaned into his mouth as his tongue darted across her lower lip, requesting entry. Their tongues dueled for dominance as their hands blindly caressed each other for countless minutes. Kate was the first to break their kiss out of need for air. Pulling back, Richard held her face in his hands, and looking directly into her eyes, he returned the endearment. "I love you, too."

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After Richard's declaration, the pair had shared one more chaste kiss before quickly getting ready and heading into the office on what was supposed to be Kate Beckett's second of three days off.

As Katherine approached her desk, it was clear that detectives Ryan and Esposito had put in a full night's work. The murder board was completely covered with photos of the body and a close up of the young woman's face. The name 'Polly Durward' was written in an untidy scrawl beneath the gory portrait. "How did we find out who she was?" Beckett asked, sensing the presence of the two men behind her – Castle close at her side. Richard had not moved more than three feet from Kate since they had shared their feelings with each other almost an hour previously. His fingers now nonchalantly grazed up and down her forearm. Although Kate found the gesture endearing, she hoped against hope that her male counterparts failed to notice. She wasn't ready to bring this into her working environment – not yet.

"Lanie ran her prints as soon as she got back to the morgue," Ryan informed the pair. "Polly here had been picked up last month, so her prints were in the system."

"Picked up for what?" Castle wondered aloud, turning to face the two men behind him.

"Drugs. Oh, and prostitution."

All of the air seemed to escape from Richard's body as he grasped the meaning of the detective's words. "But she's only a kid!"

"Seventeen, to be exact," Esposito chimed in as he ticked the information off on a file in his hands. "And, although it's disgusting, it's not all that uncommon."

"You're kidding!" Bracing himself against Beckett's desk, he shakily cast his hand through the hair hanging on his forehead.

Gently rubbing his arm in a soothing gesture, Beckett answered the rhetorical question. "I know it's hard to digest, Castle. But it's something we in the NYPD see a lot."

"I just… They're just kids. Barely older than Alexis."

Concern etched across her face, she continued. "She won't end up like that, Castle."

Hands in the Namaste position and thumbs beneath his chin, he took a deep breath before uttering his next question. "How do you know?"

"Because she has you. Because you care too much to let that happen. You're a good father, Castle. Don't doubt that." It pained her to resist the overwhelming urge to kiss the top of his head. With Esposito and Ryan next to them, however, she had to be more careful. Placing a hand on his shoulder instead, she squeezed it before letting go and turning back to the board.

"She just looks so much like her." Castle interjected. The three detectives turned their attention from the murder board to the author still leaning against Beckett's desk. "Don't worry, guys, I'm not going to have another meltdown. It's just… hard to process."

"Yeah, uh… that. You okay?" Esposito's far from eloquent response broke the silence that had filled the air.

Richard could tell that both he and Ryan were uncomfortable with emotional topics such as the one that was apparently currently under discussion. "Now. Yeah, I am now. It was just really difficult seeing… Polly – is that her name?" At a nod from Kate, he continued. "I was difficult to see Polly lying there like that. At first glance she looked so similar to Alexis and… I thought that my heart was going to split in two. It's hard to explain."

Ryan was the one who spoke now. "No, it's okay. We understand."

It was clear that they would never fully empathize with Richard until they too had the ability to feel such an unwavering, pure love. Rick counted himself lucky because he had three such relationships in his life. His mother, as much as he hated to admit it, was one. Alexis was clearly another, and Kate, even though he did not tell her until recently, was the third.

A question from Kate, directed toward the other men, effectively changed the subject. "What else do we know about Polly?"

Glancing back at the board and then to the file in his hands, Esposito answered her question. "That's pretty much it except for the fact that she has no family here. Her parents live in Boston. That's the closest family we can peg down." Smirking he added, "looks like you two have quite the road trip ahead of you today, eh?"

At the mention of a road trip with Katherine, Rick's mood lightened a great deal. He knew that Boston was a good four hour drive from the heart of the city and that it would take them much longer to get back during rush hour that afternoon. They needed to leave immediately if they wanted to be back before dinner. Cocking his head to the side, he reached for the coats they had recently dropped on the back of her chair before offering his arm to the woman before him. "Shall we?" he asked with a smirk.

Rolling her eyes at his sudden enthusiasm, she pulled her coat from the crook of his arm, slipping it on before walking out of the precinct – Richard Castle in tow.

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"Can I drive?" Rick asked as they approached her car.

"Why?" Kate inquired, arms akimbo.

"I don't know. I just like driving." Shrugging, he paused to look into her eyes. "But if you…" At the dejected look on his face and the pathetic tone of his voice, Kate shook her head before placing the keys in his hand. Standing beside the passenger door, she waited from him to unlock the car.

Castle seemed shocked that he had gotten his way so easily and thus stood on the side of the road a few moments longer than necessary. "Castle?!" Kate called to him, urging him to get a move on. Shaking his head, he made his way toward the driver's side and unlocked the car.

The pair were soon making their way across the George Washington Bridge toward the Cross Bronx Expressway. Their trip was full of unimportant conversations about almost everything other than the case at hand. Castle was obviously avoiding the subject for the time being.

Turning toward his companion in the seat next to him as much as he could without his eyes leaving the road, he began to ask her a myriad of questions. "So, Katie, tell me about yourself," he said, raising an eyebrow and suggestively glancing at her before returning his attention to the road before them.

Biting her lip, she contemplated the request. Although at times the nickname he had given her seemed charming, there were aslo times when he said it that it sounded more like a burn than a term of endearment. "What do you want to know, Ricky?" she asked, stressing the last word above the rest.

Scoffing, he considered her tone of voice. It sounded much more mocking than serious, so he played it off as a wiseass remark. And he had thought that he was the only wiseass in the relationship. "Yuck, you make me sound like Ricky Martin when you say that."

Rolling her eyes before shaking her head, she propped her feet upon the dashboard before her. "And you make me sound like a schoolgirl."

"Fair enough. So, _Katie_…" Grinning like an idiot at the thought of Kate in a schoolgirl outfit, he continued. "I want to know about your childhood." Placing his hand upon her knee and running it up her leg toward the foot on the dash, he quickly placated her. His hand soon made it's way back down her leg, stopping at the crook between her hip and her thigh. As he slid his fingers sideways toward the inside of her leg, Kate's intake of breath was overtly audible.

Biting her lip to keep from moaning, Kate began to answer Rick's question – if only to take her mind off of the incredible feeling of his fingers just inches from the place she really wanted them to be. "Okay, well, my mom was still alive then – she didn't die until my sophomore year in college." Taking a moment to steady her breathing, she continued. "I was happy." The slight smirk on her face told Castle that he had not done the wrong thing in asking her to reminisce. "My dad always tried to spoil me, but my mom wouldn't have it. She didn't want me to be some bratty privileged kid from the upper east side. Looking back now, I really respect her for that." Rick wondered why Alexis had turned out so well. He had spoiled her like no other little girl had been spoiled before her. "I had to work for my allowance. I kept my own room clean even though we had a maid. It was even my job to walk the dog everyday when I got home from school. It was a nice life. I always wanted a sibling, but my mother had some reproductive problem. She had a number of miscarriages both before and after me. They always said that I was their miracle baby." By this time, Kate's left hand had found its way to Richard's and their fingers were interlaced atop her thigh. The fingers of her right hand drew light designs across the back of his as she continued.

"I loved elementary school, but I was never really the best student. I just kind of coasted along wherever I could skim the surface while still keeping under the radar. My mom thought that I had ADHD though. I had a lot of vigor at home. The only reason was that I kept it all in during the school day so that by the time I got home, I was about ready to explode with energy. My teachers saw the more restrained side of my persona – the one I use at work as it were – and had no idea what my mother was talking about." Sighing, she smiled as she remembered her youth. It was nice to look back at the fond memories and not just the bad ones.

"I would personally like to see you more unrestrained, Kate." Smiling at the woman before him, he suddenly remembered a pervious comment. "Wait, you said you had a dog?"

Nodding, she told him of her childhood pet. "Yeah, a Jack Russell Terrier. His name was Rufus. He was the best dog ever. I really miss him. He died of cancer when I was thirteen. That was really hard. It was one of the first deaths I had witnessed in my life. Funny that I made it into my everyday life, isn't it?" Seeing the irony, but not the humor in the situation, Castle changed the subject – keeping the dog on the back burner of his mind.

"Did you read at all?"

Cocking her head to the side, Kate looked at Rick. "Are you asking if I had literacy skills or if I was a bookworm?"

Chuckling at her clarifying question, he elucidated. "The latter."

Returning her attention to her soft ministrations of his hand in hers, she answered him. "Well, I guess the answer to both is yes. I started reading Dick and Jane books even before kindergarten and by the time I was in third grade I was reading Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales." Richard didn't find this at all hard to believe. Kate seemed as if she had always been an exceptionally smart person, even as a child. Alexis was the same way. "My favorite book though was Alice in Wonderland. My mom bought me a first edition for my twelfth birthday. It was my most cherished possession."

Picking up on the key word in her previous statement, Rick questioned her. "Was?" Glancing at her quickly, he squeezed her hand. "What happened to it?"

Pinching the bridge of her nose between the thumb and forefinger of her right hand, Beckett sighed. "I told you my dad took my mom's death hard, didn't I?" Without waiting for any sort of recognition from Castle, she continued. "Well, he took it a little harder than I implied. He got into drugs for a little while and my mom's family refused to give him any money because it would just be in support of his habit. She had come from money, you see. They never really approved of her marrying my father. They said that he was below her." Richard attempted to hide his sock at this admission but did a horrible job of it. "They of course set up a trust fund for me, but little good it did me until I turned 25. By then, he had sold a number of priceless treasures to support both himself and the habit. My book was among them." Taking a moment, Kate regained her composure. "I never forgave him for that. She had written an inscription on the inside of the front cover. It said 'To my darling Kate, Follow your heart to wherever your dreams may take you. The sky is the limit and the world is your oyster. I love you more than air, Mom.'"

Katherine was on the verge of tears by the end of her confession. She had never told anyone about this before. At the sight of her wiping moisture from her eyes before tears could form, Castle felt the overwhelming urge to pull the car to the shoulder, draw her from her seat, and cradle her in his arms. He wanted to take away all of the hurt he saw and all of he pain that was hidden just beneath the surface. "I'm sorry Kate."

The blatant sincerity in his words caught her off guard. Sure he had told her that he loved her, but the depth of that love was only slowly beginning to reveal itself. "Yeah, well, it's in the past now and even if I can't forgive him, I can move on. And I have."

She was so strong, even when she didn't need to be. This was something Richard had noticed. Gently pulling his hand from hers, he cupped her cheek and gazed into her eyes as long as the straight stretch of road before them would allow. "I love you, Kate." He wished he could pull her face to his and kiss her without causing an accident. He just wasn't that skilled of a driver.

Leaning into his hand, Kate replied. "I love you too, Rick."

The rest of the trip was made in companionable silence. Gentle, loving touches and the sound of an alternative music station filled the remainder of their time in the car.

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The childhood home of Polly Durward sat on the outskirts of Boston's center. More of a mansion than a house, it sat upon a hill overlooking the Charles River, just down from the Back Bay. Ivy grew around the façade of the building before them and the merry songs of robins filled the air, contrasting with the somber mood. Even Castle stood in awe of the sight, unmoving until Beckett's hand grasped his own, pulling him from his reverie.

"You okay?" she inquired as she rubbed her thumb across the back of his hand.

Shaking his head as if to rid himself of previous thoughts, Rick contemplated the woman before him. "Yeah, sorry. Lets go." Making their way, as a pair, toward the front door, Castle chewed on his bottom lip. As Kate pulled her hand back from ringing the doorbell, Castle turned to face her. "It's just, if they had all this money, what was their daughter doing selling herself on the streets?"

The distress in Richard's voice was clear. "That's what we are here to find out." Placing her free hand upon his chest, she questioned him. "Are you ready?"

Smiling at the amount of caring in her words, Rick moved as if to place a kiss upon her lips. Their heartfelt moment was cut short, however, as the large wooden door before them opened to reveal a young woman in a maid's uniform. Pulling back and releasing his hand, Kate opened her mouth to address the woman.

"May I help you?" came a thickly accented question from the woman standing across the threshold.

"I am detective Kate Beckett with the NYPD. This is Richard Castle. We need to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Durward."

The woman appeared to be French. "I am sorry, but Mr. and Mrs. Durward are not at home." Beckett's disappointment of at this information was obvious. Under the impression that they had made a four hour drive in vain, she threw her head back and sighed loudly as the maid continued. "Zey will be back…" The young woman's explanation was cut short by the crunching sound of gravel. Turing around, Katherine and Richard could see a black car approaching with a highered driver in the front seat. As it came to a stop, the driver made his way toward the back car door facing the house. In opening it, a middle aged couple became visible. The woman was the first to step from the car, glancing inquisitively at the pair standing on her doorstep.

Walking briskly toward the woman, Castle in tow, Beckett pulled her badge from the waist of her pants. "Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. I need to ask you some questions. Is there somewhere we can talk?"

"NYPD? This is Boston. What are you doing all the way out here?" The woman's confusion was evident, not only in her choice of words, but in her facial expression as well.

"We are investigating a case involving your daughter. I would really prefer it if we could discuss the matter inside, ma'am."

"Of course." Turning toward her husband who was currently emerging from the car, she spoke. "Edward, these detectives need to speak with us about Pollyanna."

Brow furrowed, the man took a moment to consider his wife. "About what?"

"They want to discuss it inside, darling. Hurry up. The driveway is no place to entertain guests." Walking toward the entryway and turning her attention to the maid before her she barked out orders. "Perdita, please put the kettle on for tea and take our guests to the parlor. Mr. Durward and I need to freshen up." Turning back toward Beckett and Castle, she spoke with them quickly before turning on her heel. "If you'll excuse us for just a moment, we have been in the car all day you see."

"Of course. Take all the time you need." Just as soon as she appeared, the woman was gone. Her husband quickly followed her into the house and up a grand staircase. The maid, Perdita, led the pair to a nearby room.

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Kate found herself perched on the edge of an uncomfortable, finely upholstered couch in an elegant parlor. Concerned that she may mar the furniture with the grime of the city, she placed as little of herself upon it as possible. Katherine had never been comfortable in this type of environment. Richard, who seemed to have no such worries, was lounging to her left on the same couch. "Relax, Katie," he cooed. "It's just a couch."

"Just a couch?" Beckett exclaimed. "Rick, do you know how much this type of furniture costs?"

Smiling to himself, he spoke. "I have a pretty good idea. And I'm pretty sure I don't care." Slipping an arm around her waist and pulling her even closer to him, he placed a kiss on the back of her neck.

Trying not to enjoy it, Kate pulled away. Now was not the time for frivolity. "Castle…" she warned.

"Castle?" came a pompous female voice from behind them. "As in Richard Castle? The author? I thought you said you were cops."

Turning in her seat to face the voice, she found Mr. Durward mixing herself a martini at the bar behind them. "I am a cop. Richard – the author, as you previously assumed – is simply consulting. What can you tell us about your daughter."

"What would you like to know?" Kelly Durward made her way to the couch opposite the pair and seated herself. "I have a wealth of information on that child."

Making his way down the elaborate staircase, Edward Durward stopped before the same bar to fix himself a tumbler of scotch. "When was the last time you saw her?" Kate asked. Motioning his glass toward the detective, as if asking them if they would like something to drink, Mr. Durward stood unmovingly before the bar. "No, we are fine. Thank you."

Ignoring her husband, Mrs. Durward concentrated on the question asked of her. "A year and one month ago. Why?"

Furrowing her brow, Kate considered the woman's answer. "That long?"

"She didn't want to be seen. That's all I can say."

This time, Castle was the questioner. "May I ask why your seventeen year old daughter was living in her own in New York City?" The inflection of his voice showed that he was having a great deal of trouble keeping emotion out of this particular case. Kate assumed that it must be difficult for Castle to see a young girl murdered in such a brutal way. Maybe he was just too close to this case to see it clearly.

Breaking the abrupt silence that Richard's interrogation had caused, Edward Durward spoke for the first time since he returning from the second floor. "Her mother didn't approve of her choice."

Turning in their seats to observe the man, they missed the death glare that his wife subsequently shot at him. "And what choice would that be?"

"To get an abortion."

Kate's eyes widened as Rick shouted out the exclamation currently on her mind. "She was pregnant?"

Turning her attention away from her husband, Mrs. Durward considered Richard's question before speaking. The middle aged mother's tone was one of utter disapproval as she began to speak. "Yes, her sophomore year, if you can believe it. We had expected her to marry Daniel, the father. He was going to move in with us, finish high school, and then go to work for Edward." Gliding silently toward the chair adjacent to his wife, Edward folded his long frame into a seated position. "Instead, she decided that an abortion was a better idea. She didn't like that we were controlling her life – but if she didn't want to be controlled, then maybe she shouldn't have gotten pregnant at fifteen." The anger in Kelly's voice was beginning to escalate to an unprecedented decibel. "Anyway, she got the abortion and when she should have been getting bigger we started to figure it out. I told her that what she had done was unacceptable and we, Edward and I, started to keep a much closer eye on her. I told her that either she played by our rules or she could leave. The next morning, she was gone."

Castle glanced at the woman before him. Her anger seemed to find its way to the past in order to reside with the experience. Her face was now more apathetic than anything. "Just like that? No note?"

The apathy turned into what looked like humor as Kelly answered his question. Castle wondered if a cackle was forthcoming. "Oh, she left a note. It said: 'Dear Kelly and Edward, I don't belong here. I am going somewhere where I do. Polly.' And that was the last we heard of her."

Practically livid with the woman seated just three feat in front of him, Richard nearly shouted at her. "You mean, you never tried to track her down? Find your fifteen year old daughter?!"

The tone and volume of Castle's voice did not even seem to phase the woman. She continued as if the conversation was one that she had on a day to day basis. "What was the point if she clearly didn't want to be found?"

Rick's eyes seemed as if they were about to bulge out of his head. Kate was reminded of that runaway bride that had been on the news a few years previously. Hoping that his eyes were pretty well socked in and would stay that way, she casually placed her hand upon his forearm. The motion calmed him almost instantly, and he slumped back into the couch, allowing Kate to take the lead. "Is there anymore information you could give us?"

Placing his tumbler on the table between them, Edward leaned forward in his chair. "None. Why? What has happened?"

"Sir, do you have any idea what your daughter has been doing or where she has been for the past year?"

The rage seemed to be making its way back into Mrs. Durward's voice as she answered the question that had been directed at her husband. "I just told you that I have no more information that I haven't already disclosed. What is going on?"

Biting her lip, Beckett considered the best way to break such horrible news to what may have been some of the world's worst parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Durward, your daughter has been selling her body for the past year and was found murdered early this morning in lower Manhattan."

The older man slumped forward, his elbows slipping from their resting place on his knees. A crazed look overtook his face as he glanced from Rick, to Kate, to his wife, and back again. "She… I… Polly? Are you sure it was her?!"

"Yes, sir," Kate informed him. "We ran her prints through the system. She was picked up last month for minor drug possession and prostitution. I've got a picture here, but if you would like, you can come down to the morgue with us and identify the body yourselves."

Edward stood so abruptly that it took everyone in the room by surprise. With him standing and everyone else seated, his large frame turned into something overbearing, towering over the duo. "If we would like?! Why in the hell would I want to see my baby girl on a goddamned cold slab like some animal?!" Turning toward his wife, he directed his anger at her. "How could this happen? She had always been such a good kid and then Daniel came around."

Almost afraid to cross such a large, angry man, Kate interjected. "Do you happen to have a last name for Daniel?"

Luckily for Beckett, Edward was attempting to curb his anger through a series of deep breaths. Kelly was the one who answered. "Peterson. But if you are looking to speak with him, you're going to have to wait."

Confusion etched its way across both Kate and Rick's faces. "And why is that?" he wondered aloud.

"He's studying abroad in Spain right now." Kate was secretly pleased. This was one less possible suspect – unless he had flown out that morning, which seemed highly unlikely.

"How long has he been there?" she inquired.

Considering the question, Mrs. Durward answered. "About three months, I guess."

Rising gracefully from her seat, Katherine beckoned to Richard to join her. Thrusting himself from his position on the couch, he followed her to the edge of the room before turning around to glance one last time at the couple. "That will be all for now Mr. and Mrs. Durward," Beckett said. "We will contact you with any further questions. Thank you for your cooperation." And with that, they made their way to the door.

**End Chapter Notes**: Sorry that took sooooo long. School sucks and my puppy rocks my socks. He likes to eat them too, but only when my feet are in them. Anyway, that is irrelevant and I am digressing. I hope this chapter was worth the wait and I will try to keep a more steady updating pace in the future. Have a lovely day. :)


	17. Love is Not Love

17. Love is Not Love Which Alters When Alteration Finds

Detectives Ryan and Esposito always seemed to get the short end of the stick. They found themselves wandering the streets of the meat packing district attempting to find any sort of information in their current victim. It was a difficult task to say the least. Although there was a small amount of activity in this area, most of prostitution these days had made its way to the internet instead. This meant that street walkers were few and far between. The selection was slim and they nonchalantly approached the friendliest looking woman they saw.

The pair knew that they needed to speak to the woman as if they were interested in picking her up. As soon as she saw a badge or heard the term NYPD, she was as good as gone, and any information would go with her. "How's your night going?" Javier Esposito inquired, doing his best to sound interested in the hooker before him.

Turning toward the pair as they approached her, the woman looked them up and down before her eyes settled on Javier's face. Raising her eyebrows, obviously liking what she saw, she addressed him. "Pretty good, baby. You lookin' for a date?"

Attempting not to seem disgusted by the aspect, Ryan was the one who answered. "Yeah, actually, but I am looking for someone you might know. Young, pretty, strawberry blonde hair, brown eyes…" Raising his eyebrows suggestively, he inquired. "That ring a bell at all?"

"Nope. Never seen her before. You sure you don't want to spend a little time with me instead?"

Removing his wallet from his back pocket, Esposito pulled a bill from the center. "Do you think you might remember for a Benjamin?" Waving it in front of himself between the first two fingers of his right hand, he effectively caught the prostitute's attention.

"That is definitely a possibility."

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The drive from Boston was slow and monotonous. It was around a six hour drive getting back to New York in rush hour traffic. Darkness was beginning to fall upon the city as they crossed the GW bridge. The vibrating of Beckett's pocket alerted her to an incoming call.

"Beckett," she answered, curtly.

A deeper voice answered on the other end. "Hey, it's Esposito. We've got a lead on Polly. Where are you?" His voice was muffled and it seemed to Kate as if he were standing in the middle of a busy street.

"We're just making our way into the city now. What have you got?"

Hesitant, he responded. "We found the brothel she operated out of." It was obviously not a topic Esposito relished in, that much could be easily gathered from the tone of his voice.

"How'd you do that?" she inquired. It was obvious that this had not been an easy task.

"Let's just say it wasn't pretty." Esposito could barely handle some of the 'freaky ones' that Beckett seemed to favor. Kate understood that his skin must have been crawling at the types of interactions he most likely went through in the course of the day. "Wanna meet us on the far west side?"

"Yeah, we'll be there as soon as we can. You might want to go in without me, though. I think you could get more information out of them that way. Castle and I will meet you outside when you're done." As an afterthought, she added, "what are the cross streets?" Kate pulled a pen from her purse before reaching across Castle to his breast pocket, patting it swiftly, and removing his notepad.

"14th and West Street." Quickly, she jotted the information down as Esposito repeated it to her.

"Alright. We'll meet you there in twenty." Snapping her phone shut, she slid it back into her pocket, staring ahead of her at noting in particular.

"Did they find anything?" Castle wondered aloud.

He wondered if she had ever caused her lip to bleed the way she was always biting it. "Yeah," she answered as a large sigh escaped her lips. "Apparently the brothel she worked in." It had already been a long, trying day for the both of them and the sun had barely set.

Richard rolled his eyes. Brothels seemed to be from the distant past. "I didn't know anyone still worked the streets anymore. Don't they all just list themselves on Craigslist?"

"You would think so, but apparently not."

A fleeting look in her direction before returning his attention to the road informed Rick that it was time for a change of topic. "Where are we headed then?" It wasn't exactly a smooth segue, but then again, Castle was never tactful.

Checking the note in her hand, she replied. "14th and West."

"Got it." The trip to the west side was made in silence and quickly at that. It was not long before the pair found themselves pulling up behind the cruiser belonging to Detective Esposito. "You sure this is the place?" Castle questioned. Glancing out her window at the house before them, Beckett found herself wondering the exact same thing. The building looked more like a modern, upscale boarding house than one of ill-repute.

"This must be it. It looks like the guys are already inside." Leaning against the door and craning her neck in order to get a better look. "Let's get out of the car while we wait. I need some fresh air." Swiftly unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the car door, Katherine glided out of the car and propped herself against the hood. Removing the keys from the ignition and following her lead, Richard joined her on the front of the automobile. Although they were not touching each other as they sat, their body heat mingled together in the crisp air, making it seem as if they were. "How could a mother just throw her child to the curb like that?" Kate probed, taking Rick by surprise.

"Trust me, I don't get it either." Their conversation continued in much the same manner, the pair slowly inching together without seeming to notice. Castle's arm found its way around her should and he hugged her to himself, almost molding her to his side. Her head slowly made its way to his shoulder and they stayed like that for some time. Unaware that the boys were making their way out of the brothel before them, Rick placed a gentle kiss upon Kate's forehead and they shared a meaningful gaze. Esposito and Ryan, confusion engraved on their faces, stopped dead in their tracks. They had never seen Beckett let her guard down so much and were unaware of the budding relationship between their fellow detective and the writer that had chosen to make her life a living hell. Yet somehow, they were not surprised.

"Where's my kiss, Castle?" Esposito joked as he joined the pair at the curb, attempting to make a possibly uncomfortable situation a bit lighter. Ryan, chuckling to himself, followed suit.

Eyes widening suddenly, Kate pulled her gaze from Richard's face to the two men swiftly advancing toward them. Shocked by their proximity as if she had been unaware of their position beforehand, Kate stiffened and rapidly pulled away from Rick. The disappointment was evident in his face, but he understood her need to stay professional at work.

In an attempt to break the tension, Ryan began to detail their findings. "So apparently, according to the madam, Polly had been working here for the last year. She was one of their most popular girls – long list of regulars. Her madam, Roxy, informed us that she hadn't been to work in the past four days, which was apparently quite odd for Polly."

"That's all we could get from her," Esposito chimed in, looking toward his partner for conformation. "At least all we could get before showing off our badges. You want us to call in the cavalry now, Beckett?"

"Yeah, call the boys in and make sure Montgomery knows everything we do. We need to get the raid on this place underway soon, so I…" Smacking her head, Kate turned toward Castle. "Shit." Glancing suddenly toward Esposito once more, she continued. "You can handle this without us right? I just remembered something I have to do." At his curt nod of acknowledgement, she reached into Richard's pant pocket, removed her car keys, and gestured for him to join her in the car.

In the blink of an eye, the car was gone and Esposito and Ryan found themselves standing on an empty curb staring into the distance at nothing. Their mystification was obvious, but they speedily returned to the task at hand.

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"What's wrong, Kate?!" Castle's tone was filled with worry. She had not spoken since they had gotten into the car and his concern had grown to an unbearable point.

"I told Alexis I would have you home over four and a half hours ago." She informed him. "She's got to be worried sick!" Rick smiled. Of course Kate would worry about something like that. "What are you smiling at Castle? I'm serious."

"Katie, it's fine. I'm never home on time. Trust me, the most I'll get is a gentle scolding. Maybe she'll ground me…" Smirking to himself, he continued, "but hopefully she'll ground you too. After all, you're the one who lied. She could always ground us both to my room for hours. Yeah, I think that that would be a fitting punishment."

Beckett rolled her eyes before returning her focus to the road. "Of course you do, Rick."

Turning in his seat, Rick reached out for her leg, sliding his hand slowly upward as it made contact. "You know you'd like it, Kate."

Attempting to ignore the sensation, Katherine decided to make light of his comment. "You know what I'd _really_ like to do right now?" Her tone of voice was less than endearing.

Slowly pulling his hand back from her leg with a pained expression on his face, he responded. "I'm not sure I want to… but curiosity is getting the better of me." Turning more fully toward the woman in the driver's seat, he crossed his arms. "What?"

"Pull out my taser and…"

Before she could finish her thought, Castle cut her off. "Ooooo, I like where this is going." Bracing his hands on the dash before him and the center console, Richard leaned into Beckett.

Beckett rolled her eyes at Rick and before they knew it, they had pulled up to Richard's apartment building. As he began to open his door, he noticed that Katherine was making no move to get out of the car on the opposite side. "You'd better come up Kate," he informed her. "I may need a buffer."

Leaning across the steering wheel, she looked up at Richard. "I thought you said we didn't have to worry about Alexis."

Rick smirked. "Alexis, no. But my mother is a different problem altogether. I may need you up there, Katie."

Grinning slightly, she removed her seatbelt and rose from the car. Richard, holding her door for her, swiftly shut it and guided her toward the building with a hand at the small of her back.

"Good evening, Mr. Castle, ma'am," the doorman greeted them as the entered the building through the door he held ajar for them.

Stopping in his tracks, he turned to face the middle-aged man. "Hey, Norman. This is Kate."

Lifting his hat and slightly tipping his head toward her, he addressed Beckett directly. "Nice to meet you ma'am."

Smirking, she turned toward the man. "And you as well, Norman. And please, call me Kate."

Replacing his hat on his head, he shook it from side to side. "Oh, ma'am, I can't."

Kate extended her hand. "Then how about my last name? Beckett. All this ma'am stuff is making me feel old."

Smiling, Norman took her hand and instead of shaking it, placed a kiss on the back. "Of course Ms. Beckett. Have a lovely evening." Without another word, he turned back to his work outside the building.

Hand firmly back in place, Rick guided her inside the building. Katherine looked back over her shoulder. "Well, he may be formal, but at least he's friendly."

Making their way toward the elevator, they found it already on the ground floor. Gliding swiftly into the confined area, Rick turned to press the button for his floor before gathering Katherine in his arms. Pulling her back against his chest, his head upon her shoulder, he simply held her. The only sound that punctuated the brief ride upward was that of their deep breathing and the ding of the elevator as it reached their destination. Slipping her from his embrace and grasping her hand instead, he gently pulled her into the hallway and to the door of his apartment. Drawing his keys from his pocket, he swiftly unlocked the door before walking in, hand-in-hand with the woman beside him.

Alexis could be seen seated at the bar of the kitchen. A laptop before her and a number of books open to her left signified that she was hard at work. "Hey, Pumpkin," Richard greeted, effectively announcing his presence. "Sorry we're late."

Glancing up from her computer, Alexis grinned at her father. "Hey, dad." A quick glance at the intertwined hands of the pair before her caused her smile to grow even wider. "It's not a problem. I figured you just got caught up in your new case." As an afterthought, she added, "are you okay?"

"Yeah Strawberry, I'm fine. Sorry if I scared you last night. This case just hit a little close to home."

Closing her book, she slipped from her stool. "Who's dead this time?" she asked as she approached her father.

Beckett considered telling Alexis about the case, but wondered if it was the best idea. She opened her mouth to protest, but was a bit too late. "A teenager girl who could be your doppelganger," Rick informed his daughter. "She was a prostitute. We don't really know much yet."

"That's horrible. I'm sorry dad. I know it's fruitless to tell you this, but you could always let the NYPD finish this case on their own." Kate's face fell and she quickly looked away as if something had caught her eye. She hoped that neither had noticed the emotion on her face. Although she hated to admit it, Alexis' idea was probably a good one. Beckett just worried how she could solve the case without Castle's help. Procedure meant nothing to him, which is why he tended to catch things others did not.

"Your right, sweetie, it _is_ fruitless." Smirking, he kissed her on the top of her head before turning toward the kitchen. "Do I smell Chicken Parmesan?" he asked, glancing back at his daughter.

"Yep." Sliding back onto her stool, she reopened her textbook. "It should be done in the next five minutes, if you want to check it. I was hoping you'd be back in time."

Wandering toward the oven, he opened the door and leaned his face down. "What should it look like?" he questioned, looking in his daughter's direction.

Pushing his shoulder lightly, Kate positioned herself before the oven instead. "I'll get it."

"Thanks, Kate."

Peeking fleetingly into the oven, she closed the door before turning to look for an oven mitt. "Yeah, it looks perfect." "It smells great too. You're quite the cook, Alexis." Sensing what she wanted, Rick opened a drawer and placed the mitt in her hand. Smirking at him, she turned to remove the dish and place it on the stove to cool.

"I do what I can." Closing her laptop, she made her way around the counter toward a drawer. "Dad, want to get the plates out and I'll do the silverware? We only need three because Gran is out, hoping to get a hit on her 'graydar' and she calls it. You're staying, right Kate?"

Spinning on the spot, Kate opened her mouth quickly and closed it again, unsure of what to say. "Oh, well I should really…"

As he placed the plates carefully on the table before him, Rick interrupted. "She's staying."

Smiling, Alexis opened the drawer before her and reached in toward the forks. "Good." Kate leaned back on the counter behind her and sighed. There was no use denying it – she couldn't say no to this man and she didn't want to either.

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The table was quickly set and the trio soon found themselves enjoying a well-prepared meal.

After swallowing the food in her mouth, Kate reached toward the glass of water before her. "So, Alexis, how is school going?"

Seated across the table from Kate, Alexis glanced up from her plate. "Pretty good. Finals are in a couple of weeks, so I am starting a few study guides on my own. I like to be prepared." Smiling, she took a small bite of food.

"That's good. I always procrastinated until the last minute. It wasn't the greatest idea and always seemed to cause way more stress than necessary. To me, procrastination was not the problem, it was the solution."

Tossing a fleeting look at her father, she continued the conversation. "Yeah, dad seems to do that as well."

Katherine chuckled to herself. "What classes are you taking this semester?"

Ticking them off on her fingers, Alexis made a verbal list. "Poetry, Trig, AP English, Poli Sci, Spanish, Health, Bio, and Psyc."

Replacing her water glass on the table, Kate's eyes widened. Alexis really seemed to care about school, but she had not expected such a packed schedule. "Wow, that seems like quite the load. Do you have any favorites among them?"

Looking at her plate, Alexis answered. "Yeah, poetry actually."

Noticing the embarrassed look on the girl's face, Kate pressed for more information. "Why is that?"

A blush quickly crept up her cheeks. Alexis began to push the food around her plate with the fork that was still in her hand. She wondered if she should tell her father about Owen. They were close, but some things were better left unsaid when it came to fathers. Kate's soft hand enveloped her own, stilling the motions. Looking up, she saw the concerned, caring look in the woman's face. "Well, there's this boy…"

A clink from Kate's side signaled the dropping of a utensil. The pair looked at him in confusion. His focus, however, was only on his daughter. "A boy?! How come I never heard about this?" His tone was frantic. Alexis had never kept something from him.

"Maybe because I thought that you would react the way you are now."

Calming down slightly, he lowered himself the few inches back into his seat. "Oh, well, I guess that's a good reason then. What's his name?"

"Owen." Waiting for her father's reaction, she failed to notice the smile forming on Kate's face.

"Is he cute?" The young woman asked, leaning on her elbows on the table before her.

Smiling as she bit her lower lip, Alexis nodded in Kate's general direction. "Yeah."

"What's he like?" Kate asked as she found herself leaning unwittingly toward the girl before her. She felt like a young girl once again.

"Shy, really sweet. He keeps to himself a lot and won't really say anything unless I talk to him first. It's just so scary making the first move, though, you know?" The smile on Alexis' face faded only to be replaced by a look of trepidation.

Reaching across the table, Kate wrapped her hand around the young girl's arm in a comforting gesture. "I know. But if we relied on men, we'd never get anywhere." After smirking quickly at Castle, she returned t=her attention to Alexis, who was watching the exchange with rapt attention. "Why don't you invite him over to study with you for the final? It's a safe environment. So that way, if he doesn't feel the same – which why wouldn't he – you haven't really thrown yourself too far out there. But if he does like you, it might be the perfect icebreaker."

Furrowing her brow, Alexis considered the suggestion. "That's a good idea. Thanks, Kate."

"No problem." As she leaned back in her seat and placed her hand in her lap, she felt a larger, warm one envelop her own beneath the table. Smiling, she interlaced her fingers with his and continued to eat her meal.

The rest of the meal followed in a similar fashion until everyone had eaten their fill. The trio cleared the table, put the leftovers in the fridge, and did the dishes quickly. It was not long, however, before the clock stuck ten and Alexis excused herself to prepare for bed. It was a school night, after all. As she ascended the stairs, Katherine too made a move to gather her things.

As his fingers wrapped around her slender wrist she stilled. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Turning to face him, she peeled his fingers from her forearm. "I'm getting pretty tired too. I think I'll head home."

The pain is Richard's face was clearly hyperbolic, but Kate assumed that at least some of it was genuine. "Why?"

Shaking her head, she attempted to walk around him to toward her belongings. "To sleep, Rick."

His hand around her waist thwarted her attempt in its tracks. "Stay," he pleaded in barely more than a whisper.

"I don't know," Kate murmured as he pulled her torso into his back, her head falling backward onto his shoulder.

Nuzzling his nose into her neck, he implored. "You've stayed before. What's different now?"

Tongue snaking out to wet her bottom lip before she scraped her teeth over the top, she muttered a reply. "Alexis is home. It might make her uncomfortable. I don't want to do that to her."

Rick pulled her body closer to his and began to rub her hip in slow circles. "Kate. I didn't come home last night. Alexis must have a pretty good idea of where I was."

"But that's different." As he placed a kiss at the nape of Kate's neck, she faltered slightly. "She will be just down the ha… hall n… now."

"She won't care," he whispered in her ear and his hand slipped beneath her shirt. "I promise you. Please stay."

Regaining her composure momentarily, she pulled away from his grasp. "How do you know?" Smoothing her hair, she took a step backward.

If she wouldn't listen to him, should would have listen to Alexis herself. "Alexis!" he called up the stairs. It was only moments until his daughter appeared at the landing of the stairwell, a toothbrush handing from her mouth. Leaning over the banister, she waited for her father to speak. "Would it upset you if Kate stayed the night? She'll be sleeping in my bed with me."

Pulling the brush from her mouth, she smirked. Any other woman, and Alexis would feel awkward about the situation, not that his father ever brought a woman home. Come to think of it, Kate would be the first woman to spend the night since her mother moved out when she was small. Funnily enough, Alexis preferred Kate. "Yeah. I don't care. And thanks for the wealth of information dad. I really appreciate that." Kate cocked her head to the side, confused as to why Alexis seemed cared so little about the matter.

Smiling, he pulled Kate to his side. "You're welcome," he replied as he planted a kiss on her temple.

Turning around, Alexis placed the toothbrush back between her lips. Just as she was about to disappear around the corner, she whipped back around. "Oh, Kate. I want to make you breakfast in the morning. Breakfast is my specialty. All dad can do is eggs."

Smiling up at her, Katherine responded. "Sounds great, Alexis." Before she knew it, Alexis was gone and the only other person in the room was the man pressed to her side.

"I told you so," his soft voice spoke directly to her ear.

"So you did." As she turned in this arms, she came face to face with him. "Well?"

Pulling back enough to look her directly in the eyes, his brow furrowed. "Well what?"

Holding her hand out for his, she gestured with her head toward the staircase. "Are we going to bed?"

"Oh, yeah!" Grabbing her hand, he waved the other in the general direction of his bedroom. "Lead the way!"

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Once in the solitude of Castle's bedroom, he handed her a clean pair of boxers and a t-shirt before dropping a kiss on her cheek and continuing toward his adjoining bathroom. On the way, he shed both his pants and button-up shirt, obviously not self conscious in any way. Pulling his toothbrush from the cup before him, Richard began to brush his teeth. Lost in thought, he failed to notice Kate's presence in the bathroom until she sidled up next to him. His toothbrush nearly hell from his mouth as he took in the sight before him. She had not, as Rick had expected, redressed in the clothes he had handed her, but had instead shed her clothing, picked up his discarded shirt from the floor and placed it on herself. This article of clothing, clinging to her body by only two buttons, along with a pair of lacy red hipster panties, was all that she was wearing.

As Katherine reached up to pull her short hair back into a ponytail, the shirt rose, revealing a sliver of her toned stomach just above the line of her underwear. Richard envisioned what it would be like to kiss the undoubtedly soft skin there. He imagined dropping his toothbrush into the sink and haphazardly wiping the residual toothpaste from the edges of his mouth. He would grab her waist and pull her to him as he dropped to his knees before her. His hands would find their way around her body to her perfect buttocks, slipping up and under her parties to rest on the bare skin there. He could picture the moan that would escape her mouth as she would reach for his head. Hands in his hair, Katherine would guide his face to her skin. Tongue darting quickly out, he would taste her – just above her panty line. His tongue might then dart into her bellybutton, causing another primal sound to flow from her body. Rick's left hand would slide out from her silky garment in glide up to her lower back, pulling her flush against him. Peppering kisses up her abdomen, he would slowly unbutton the shirt, gently spreading it as her rose to stand before her. As the shirt cascaded to the ground he would reach toward her once again, gripping…

Castle's wild imagination was cut short, however, as he realized she was speaking to him. "Sorry, what was that?" Shaking his head, he attempted to clear his mind of the less than pure thoughts still running through his head.

"I asked if you had a spare toothbrush."

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Reaching into a drawer beneath the sink, he removed an unopened toothbrush and handed it to her. The pair brushed their teeth in silence. Kate began to wash her face with a clean washcloth she found next to the sink. As she rinsed her face, Kate looked into the mirror and noticed Castle watching her.

"What?" she demanded.

"I like to watch your routine." Scoffing, she returned her attention to her face. Turning off the water, she reached for a hand towel and found one attached to a hand before her face.

"Thanks."

Leaning back against the counter, he crossed his arms over his chest. "You're welcome. And you know, I think you look much more beautiful without the makeup."

Smiling into the towel, Beckett finished drying her face before dropping the towel to the counter and brushing past Castle into the bedroom. Slipping quickly under the covers, she shimmied for a few seconds before lifted her arms from beneath the comforter. The button up shirt was soon to follow. Holding it above the floor next to the bed, she raised one eyebrow in an invitation before letting it cascade to the ground.

**End Chapter Notes**:

Right now I am watching _The Goonies_, arguably one of the best movies of all time, and wondering how Sean Astin could have started out so damn cute. What in the heck happened to that kid? I wonder sometimes. Okay, question. Who was your favorite Goonie? Mine would definitely have to be Chunk. I mean, he was freakin' adorable right? I love how he starts to sing the Hamotzi prayer when the Fratelli's catch him on the highway! Classic! "Everything. OK! I'll talk! In third grade, I cheated on my history exam. In fourth grade, I stole my uncle Max's toupee and I glued it on my face when I was Moses in my Hebrew School play. In fifth grade, I knocked my sister Edie down the stairs and I blamed it on the dog..." Ahhaha! I seriously _love_ that movie. Seriously.

Also, if you haven't noticed it, my avatar is a drawing I have done of Beckett. If you can name the scene I drew it from, you may just get a fun prize. You can either get to read part of the next chapter before anyone else, or you can give me a plot or storyline of something you would like to see me write about, and I will do it. After it is done, you get to see it first. Sound like fun?! I also have another drawing of Beckett and one of Castle if you feel lucky. :)

Plus, I am now done with finals and don't start summer courses until the 22nd. I hope to get at least a few more chapters up before that time. I also have a few ideas rumbling around in there somewhere for shorter stories, maybe one-shots. I'm not exactly sure yet. We'll see where it takes me.


	18. Journeys End in Lovers Meeting

18. Journeys End in Lovers Meeting

Richard Castle was in bed and under the covers in what seemed like no time at all. As he climbed into bed with Beckett, he slid himself over her body, propping his weigh on his elbows. Kissing her passionately, he began to touch her as he had the previous night. The only difference being that this time there were no barriers between the skin of her breasts and that of his dexterous fingers as they brought pleasure to the woman below him. The passionate kisses lasted until neither had any breath left and they broke apart, gasping for air.

Kate took this opportunity to remove his shirt before quickly reversing their positions. Tossing her hair our of her face with a flick of her head, she licked her lips and lowered her mouth to his slightly toned chest. As she kissed across it, her hands danced over his skin in such way that caused him to groan out in pleasure. His hands slowly found their way to her head and he continuously skimmed them through her soft hair, not to guide her actions, but in more of an affectionate gesture.

Katherine felt him becoming engorged beneath her and began to rock against him. Even with the two layers of fabric – her panties and his boxers – between them, it was one of the most erotic feelings either had experienced. With his hands still intertwined in her hair, he grasped her head and pulled it toward his own for another blazing hot kiss.

A loud knock at the door sent the pair flying to opposite sides of the bed. "Night," came Alexis' voice from the other side of the door.

Castle chuckled at his own reaction before returning the endearment. "Goodnight, Sweetie."

"Night, Alexis," Kate added before she heard the girl walking back down the hall toward her own room. Running her fingers through the strands of hair strewn across the pillow, she slowly made the way back to Richard. The mood somewhat killed, she placed a short, chaste kiss on his lips before murmuring goodnight before snuggling up against him, laying her head upon his chest. It was not long before she fell asleep with Rick rubbing large, soft circles across her back.

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The shrill tone of Beckett's cell phone ring broke the silence that had previously filled the tastefully decorated bedroom in which she slept. Throwing the elegant white duvet from her body as she rolled from Richard Castle's warm chest, she reached toward the ground beside her. Grasping her jeans from the night before, she quickly found her phone and ripped it open. Before she even had a chance to answer, she heard the voice of Detective Ryan fill the other end of the line.

"You have to get down here right away. We've got another body," he informed her in a hurried tone. Glancing at the clock, Kate noticed that it was at least a semi-respectable hour – six o'clock. The sun would be up soon and this was something Katherine was grateful for.

"Where?" she inquired, rubbing the sleep from her still groggy eyes with her left hand.

Oddly enough, Kevin sounded fully rested on the other side. Kate wondered whether she would get more sleep is she too slept on her own. The only problem was, she loved waking up to a warm body, not to mention the fun diversions that tended to take place throughout the night. Sleep be damned. "10th and Park. How soon can you be here?"

Castle's apartment building was only nine blocks away, so as long as Beckett could get dressed quickly, she knew she could be there in no time at all. "Give me fifteen minutes." She had always put a rest to those stupid rumors that a woman could not change in less than twenty minutes. When she had been in high school and college, Kate would get up ten minutes before she needed to leave and grab food on her way out the door – a skill that came in handy with her chosen profession.

"Got it. See you soon." The other end of the line went silent as Kate looked back toward the man in whose bed she was currently sitting. He was something she hadn't considered. He was not one to get ready quickly. Kate mused that he had probably never had to. He would make her late. Rick Castle was going to be the death of her.

Maneuvering her body above Richard's, she gently rubbed his chest. "Castle, wake up," she urged quietly.

A soft humming began in Rick's chest as eyelids began to flutter. "What is it, baby?" he wondered as one arm wrapped itself around her naked upper body and the other slinked into the hair at the base of her neck. With barely any force at all, Castle brought her mouth to his in as lingering and passionate a kiss as a nearly sleeping man could muster. Pulling back, eyes still closed, a smile grew on his face.

"Castle!" Pretending to be annoyed rather than the contented sensation she currently felt, Beckett pushed at his chest, taking a swipe at it as he released her. "Ryan called."

Grin still planted firmly on his face, Richard propped himself up onto his forearms to take in the view of the revealed skin in front of him. "Whose Ryan?"

"You know who Ryan is, damn it!" Exasperated, Beckett rolled her eyes as she rolled off the man beneath her as well. "Now get up or I will leave without you."

Her feet hit the floor. Before Kate could stand, however, she felt a warm appendage slip around her waist. "Oh, you don't mean that," came Castle's voice in her ear as the flesh of his chest collided with that of her back.

Attempting to keep the moan currently building in her chest from escaping her mouth, Beckett bit her lip. Unable to turn for fear of her partner knowing what his simple proximity could do to her, she spoke instead to the wall. "Wanna bet?"

Rubbing his stubble laden chin across her shoulder blades, he smiled. "Yeah, cause you're poker face sucks." Richard took her earlobe between his teeth and it was then that Kate almost lost the battle she seemed to be waging with herself.

A large sigh seemed to be just the ticket as she brushed his unsuspecting hand from her body. "Just get up, please. There has been another murder and I told Ryan we'd be there in fifteen minutes. Now get ready." Standing quickly in order to thwart any further attempts to keep her in bed, Kate knelt to the ground. Picking up her pants once more, Kate moved to put them on. Noticing a large stain across the left leg, she threw them back down in exasperation. "God damn it! I need to start leaving clothes here."

Castle cleared his throat. Spinning in place, Kate took in his appearance. He was already nrealy dressed. She considered that maybe she had underestimated his abilities. "Oh, about that…"

Beckett instinctively narrowed her eyes. Nothing good could come of such a beginning to a sentence. "What Castle?" she demanded.

Hands in his pockets, Rick shifted his weight. His gaze drifted toward the floor and Kate began to see more of the little boy in him. His hand was stuck in the cookie jar, Kate just didn't know why. "Well, I forgot about it last night, but when we left your apartment yesterday morning, I stuck some of your clothes in the trunk of your car. You know, just in case."

Kate almost laughed. She had been anticipating something much worse, like 'Don't worry about that now, because you won't be staying here ever again.' Who was she kidding? As long as she was a willing participant, Castle would never throw her out of his home. "Oh, so you we're planning this?" Kate asked, gesturing toward the unmade bed.

Richard's right hand went to the back of his neck and he began to roughly massage it. "Well, yeah…" he admitted with reluctance.

Momentarily standing before him, Kate stood on her tippy-toes in order to give him a kiss. "Good." That had been the answer she wanted, not a lie. For Kate Beckett knew that ever since she had met Richard Castle, he had been planning ways to get her into his bed. At first, it was unsettling to say the least. Not that he wasn't good looking – he was. However, his reputation preceded him and Kate never anticipated that type of man being in her life, especially in her bed. As she got to know him, however, she began to see the other side, the true side, and found herself scheming and daydreaming as well. Yes, not only had Richard Castle planned this relationship, but she had too. All that was left was to consummate it. Now, however, was not the time. "Now get going. I will let Alexis know we'll have to do breakfast another time while you get my clothes out of the trunk." Placing one last kiss on his delicious lips, Kate pulled away and began to temporarily dress in her clothing from the previous day.

Reaching out to grab her ass as she walked away, Richard smirked once again. "Yes sir!" he called on the way out of his bedroom. "I mean ma'am."

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A soft knock on her bedroom door startled Alexis Castle into consciousness. A soothing female voice wafted through the door to where Alexis was laying on her bed. "Alexis? Sweetie?" The door opened slightly and Kate's head appeared around it.

Sitting up slightly and propping her weight on her forearms as her father had done just minutes before, Alexis furrowed her brow. "Kate?" Beckoning the young woman into her bedroom, Alexis scooted over on her bed to make room.

Kate slipped into the room and shut the door quietly behind her. She headed straight toward the bed and sat down on the edge, facing the teenage girl still beneath its covers. "Good morning. Sorry to wake you so early, but your dad and I have got to run off to a crime scene, so we won't be able to do breakfast this morning."

Although Alexis had been excited to spend the morning with her father and the new woman in both of their lives, she wasn't entirely disappointed. She knew that this was now part of her father's life and by extension, part of hers. Alexis was just happy that her father decided to go gallivanting now rather than when she needed him most as a young child. Suddenly realizing that it was already morning, she looked around the room. "What time is it?"

Kate answered without delay. "Six," she said. She didn't need to look at a clock or a watch because she had done so moments beforehand as she left Richard's room.

"Really?" Rubbing her eyes, Alexis raised herself up farther in bed. "Thanks for waking me, then. I must not have set my alarm." She gently threw the covers back and slid her body from her warm bed.

Following the girl with her eyes, Kate began to rise from the end of the bed on which she was perched. "You get up this early every morning?" she inquired.

Turning from her position at her bureau, Alexis responded. "Yep. Life at private school does have its downfalls, but at least I get out at two-thirty every day." Returning to the open draw before her, Alexis went about finding a clean uniform to wear.

Kate smirked. "Well, every cloud has a silver lining, right?"

"Guess so. So, rain check on breakfast then?" Alexis spun, uniform in hand to face the woman behind her.

"Of course," Kate said, her voice laden with guilt. "I'll leave now so you can get ready." She quickly made her way to the door before turning once more. "Have a good day at school."

"Okay." The door was opened and just as Katherine made to leave, she was called quickly back. "Oh, and Kate?"

"Yeah?"

Smirking, Alexis replied. "Be safe."

Beckett chuckled. "You too, Alexis." Opening the door wider, she stepped out of the door only to smash into Richard as she entered the hallway. "Holy crap, Castle!" Their collision caused a number of items off of the enormous pile in his arms to cascade toward the floor and she bent to pick them up. "First off, how long do you expect me to stay here, and second, how in the hell did you get all of that out of my apartment without me noticing?"

As Beckett placed the objects back in his arms, she pressed it down enough to see more than the top of his head. "Well," he said, as soon as his voice was not muffled by the pile of clothing in his grasp, "you had already set out your clothes for the day when you got into the shower, so I figured I could take as much as I could carry without you becoming aware. As for how long I expect you to stay, I was thinking like, forever." An enormous grin spread across his face.

Rolling her eyes, Kate began to walk down the hallway toward Castle's bedroom. "Very funny, Castle. Now why don't you put those down so that I can find something that matches."

"What makes you think it was a joke?" Following closely behind her, Richard made his way into his bedroom. With a scoff, Rick carelessly dumped the clothing onto the bed before him.

Kate began to rummage through the pile as she replied. "Maybe your tone of voice? Or the fact that you were quoting _Elf_?"

Castle's eyes widened to an incredible size. "You've seen that movie?"

For the second time in minutes, Kate Beckett rolled her eyes at Richard Castle before turning her back on him. This time, she made her way toward the bathroom instead. "Yes, Castle, but that's not the point."

Not missing a beat, Rick followed at her heels. "Oh, but see, I think it is."

"Whatever." Ignoring Castle's presence in the bathroom, Kate began to undress. She could feel his eyes on her body, and yet she didn't feel awkward. "We need to get down to the scene. Everyone else is most likely already there."

Taking one last, lingering look at her revealed bra, Richard made his way back into his room. "Early bird gets the worm. Got it." Kate couldn't help but chuckle as she pulled her patented, red, wide-necked shirt over her head.

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They arrived a short time later at the scene of the crime. "How's it going Lanie?" Kate asked as she approached her only female friend.

"Could be worse," was the stilted answer that greeted her.

Kate squatted carefully beside the medical examiner, glancing over the mutilated body before them. "What have we got?"

"White female, mid-twenties." Pen poised above the clipboard in her hand, she ticked off the information. "Same MO as the previous vic. The throat has been severed by two cuts, one much deeper than the first. Her abdomen has been ripped entirely open and the uterus was completely removed."

Beckett bit her lip with more force than necessary, staring at the disfigured woman. "Same weapon as before?"

Returning her attention to her notes, Doctor Parish jotted down a few general observations before answering. "Looks like it, but I can't be sure until I get a closer look under the scope."

"Are there any discrepancies?"

Looking up, Lanie studied her friend's face. "Just that he removed an organ this time. It seems that he is getting bolder, more sure of himself and what he wants from these women."

Kate looked around the crime scene for a moment before returning the doctor's gaze. "Where's the uterus?"

"Nowhere to be found."

"Do you think he's keeping trophies?" Castle wondered, causing Kate to jump. She had not noticed his presence behind her until he spoke.

"It's likely," Lanie answered.

"Let me know if you can find anything else once you get her to the morgue." Standing in order to face the other two detectives and Castle, she spoke once more. "Esposito, Ryan, get uniforms down here and do a perimeter walk. Maybe this guy is still around. Castle, you and I are going to check missing persons and see if we can find out who she is." Kate turned back to the ME. "Lanie, if you could run her prints when you get back, that would be great. That's all. Let's get this guy." With one last fleeting glance at the victim, Kate made her way back to her car, Castle in tow.

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"We've got nothing." An unsuccessful perimeter walk, a thoroughly negative call from Doctor Parish, and hundreds of missing persons files later, Castle and Beckett were beginning to lose hope. "I didn't expect to find her here, but the fact that her prints weren't in the system either is less than comforting. The longer we take to ID her, the longer this guy has to disappear."

"We don't have 'nothing', necessarily," Castle countered, leaning back in his chair. "We have an identity, background, and occupation for the first vic. Maybe we can find some sort of relationship between Polly and our latest victim which will help us out in the ongoing search for her identity. Let's work through this." Counting the items on his fingers as he went, Castle considered the information at hand. "They are of different ages, which sets them apart. They don't look alike, either. The only thing that seemed to tie Polly to the city was her job." Suddenly, it was as if a light bulb had gone off in Castle's head. "What if this girl was a prostitute too?"

Beckett sighed, distractedly running fingers through her short hair. "It's possible, but how do you expect to peg her down out of the hundreds of pros within Manhattan alone?" The thought of more fruitless searching almost drove her over the edge.

"It's our best bet, Kate." Sensing her distress, Castle rose from his own chair in order to stand behind Beckett's. Carefully, he placed a soothing hand on the back of her neck and began to massage it. Slowly, he felt her begin to relax against his ministrations. "Why don't we try checking websites?" He removed his hand from her neck, only to offer it to her as she rose from her chair. "I'll Craigslist, you Google?"

Sighing loudly once again, Beckett agreed. "Sounds like our best option at the moment."

The pair made their way toward the bullpen, Kate sitting down before her own computer and Rick finding his way to Esposito's. The two were at it for what seemed like hours before anything of substance came up. "Beckett," Castle called, beckoning her toward him, "take a look at this. I think we may have found her. This fits the description. If only there were a picture."

Beckett leaned down over Castle's shoulder, close enough that he could smell her perfume that still lingered from the day before. "Check the bag logs," she urged him. "Maybe there was a previous ad with one attached."

Beckett quickly pulled up a chair in order to sit next to Castle. Acquiescing without delay, Rick soon found himself running through previous posts until he came across one by the same user. "You're a genius, Beckett. Here she is. No name, but she specified 'Manhattan Outcalls Only'. This tells us that the killer is most likely centered out of Manhattan itself."

Beckett turned in her seat in order to more fully face the man next to her. "The fact that both of our current vics are prostitutes tells us that we are most likely looking at a mission-oriented serial killer. Although the time between murders is somewhat expedited, we know he is going to attack again. We just have no idea where. Why don't you check old posts on Craigslist for something by Polly. Maybe this is how our suspect found his victims." Instead of blindly following her request, he searched her eyes for her true emotions. She did a good job of hiding whatever she was feeling and Castle found himself turning away empty-handed. "I'm going to attempt to contact the site's manager and see if we can find out who this girl actually was. If you see the chief, let him know we have a lead." This time, Castle heard no emotion whatsoever in her words. Shaking his head, he turned back to the computer to fulfill her request and found her standing at his side a quarter of an hour later.

"I just got off the phone with Arthur Coddington, program manager of Craigslist. He's sending us all the information they have on our latest vic."

Richard pushed his chair backwards with his hands braced on the desk before him. "Good. Did they have a name?"

Beckett glanced at a small notepad in her right hand before answering. "Annie Hanbury… and according to yellow pages, she lived on the Upper East Side."

Castle cocked his head to the side and rose a singular eyebrow. "Nice place for a hooker."

Beckett scoffed, placing her free hand upon her hip. "You're telling me. I can't even afford an apartment there."

Still looking through adds on the computer, Castle responded without looking up. "What do you say we check it out?"

"My thoughts exact-"

"Whaddaya know?" Castle cut her off with his sudden outburst.

"What?" she questioned, head to the side, eyebrows furrowed.

Pointing to Esposito's computer screen, Castle finally looked up at Beckett. "She look familiar?" he asked.

Her answer was simple. "Polly."

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The search of Annie Hanbury's residence turned up very little information. Her cell was found and no family was listed. No 'home', 'mom', or 'dad' was programmed in her phonebook, which made things difficult for the investigation. Although Beckett was fairly certain that their occupation was the only thing tying the young women to each other, she needed to be sure. A brief conversation with Hanbury's landlord gleaned a bit more for the duo. Their suspicions had been correct in that Annie had no remaining family. Even the doorman knew of no one that she was close with, which made things challenging. All they had to go on now was anything Lanie could pull from the body.

As they made their way back to the precinct, Castle turned toward Beckett. "He is obviously planning these crimes quite methodically. Do you think he killed them where they were found or did he kill them somewhere else and then dump them? And is he targeting prostitutes just because they are more likely to go with a stranger than any sane person is? Or is he targeting them purposefully in order to rid them from the city? I think that the latter is more plausible, but we only have two victims. He's not even a serial killer yet. That means we still need motive. Did he know these women or did he just find their occupation undesirable?"

Beckett chuckled, her eyes not leaving the road. "So many questions, Castle. Like you said, we have two victims for the time being. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. These women could be related through other means. Maybe they both dated the same man in the past. Maybe they have both worked in the same venue, restaurant, hotel, what have you. Maybe they're not related at all." Kate glanced briefly at her partner. "That's what we're here to find out."

"Let's run their social security numbers and see if we can find a common job," he suggested.

Kate sighed. "We should also have someone run through their phonebooks and bills to check for common contacts and calls. Anything could help us pinpoint this guy. Let's just hope he doesn't strike again or we will be looking at a serial killer which is much harder to peg down."

Castle scoffed. "Why do we assume it's a man?" He said it in such a way that reminded Katherine of his 'that's _so_ sexist' comment a few months earlier.

She rolled her eyes dramatically, but soon conceded. "You're right, we are jumping to conclusions here, but statistically speaking, there's a much greater likelihood that we are looking at a white male, age twenty to fifty. Female serial killers are generally rare in occurrence."

Castle smirked. "That is true, but like you said, we aren't necessarily looking at a serial killer yet."

She shook her head. Sometimes men could be so infuriating. "You're right, Castle. I just…" Noticing an odd movement out of the corner of her eye, Beckett stopped midsentence. "What are you doing?"

Castle's head was going every which way as if he were following the path of a fly and his hands followed suit like a mime in a box. "Looking for the rift in the space-time continuum," he informed her as if it was the most normal action in the world. "Since when do _you_ agree with me?"

Kate chuckled and returned her eyes to the road. "Since you say something correct, which doesn't happen often. So revel in the feeling before another stupid comment makes this entire conversation moot."

Instead of acting appalled at her hurtful comment, Castle smiled. "I love that word."

Katherine's eyebrows furrowed. "What? Moot?"

"Yeah, I don't know why. It's just fun." Smiling once more, Castle looked out the window. "Moot."

Pulling quickly into a parking spot outside of the precinct, Kate moved to get out of the car. "While you entertain yourself with Old English words, I have real work to do. Feel free to join me if you get bored." Closing her door behind her, she left a stunned Castle seated in the car, seatbelt still in place.

Quickly coming to his senses, Richard got out of the car and followed Beckett to the doors of the precinct. "Katie, I am hurt. I am confused. I feel-"

In an attempt to block out his childish antics, Beckett began to sing a song from the musical _Annie Get Your Gun_ in her beautiful singing voice. "A man never trifles with gals who carry rifles…"

"-a little dirty. Hey, are you paying attention to me?" Castle only slightly distracted by her singing, attempted to get her attention back to him.

Kate continued as if his words had not even made it past his mouth, making her way up the stairs, never breaking from song. "…Oh you can't get a man with a gun. With a gun, with a gun. No, you can't get a man with a gun…"

Grabbing the handrail, Castle began to scale the stairs behind her, attempting to catch up. "I don't like being ignored, Katherine."

"…Cause a man may be hot, but he's not when he's shot. Oh, you can't get a man with a gun." Opening her mouth to continue after her dramatic pause, Kate found herself sucked into Castle and his odd comments once again.

"Did you know that President Kennedy had the fastest WPM in the world?"

Looking over her shoulder with a furrowed brow, she asked, "WPM?"

Castle's grin was enormous as he took the opportunity to catch up with the woman ahead of him. "Ha! I knew I'd get you. Words per minute. Cool fact, huh?"

Although it was slightly interesting, Kate didn't want Castle to know that, so she turned back to the stairs before her and continued her ascent. "Not really."

Rick's smile faded before he began to job up the steps after her, another fact up his sleeve. "What about this one. The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books. Did you know that?"

This time, Katherine did not look back, but simply responded. "Yeah, actually, I did. Did you know that there are 10 human body parts that are only three letters long?" Glancing briefly behind her, she saw Castle nodding his head vigorously. "Oh, really? You do?" The nodding continued. "Can you name them?" Castle faltered on his step and squinted. Kate had stumped him, she could already tell.

"Sure," he responded after a long pause. "Uh, eye… arm… leg… toe… ear…"

Kate crossed her arms. "That's only five."

Rick's chin jutted out like a small petulant child. "I know, don't rush me."

"Take all the time you need." Kate turned back to the stairs and made her way to the third story landing before swinging the door open to reveal the precinct hallway. "While you're pondering, I'm going to put a call into Lanie and see if she has found anything new."

"Why don't we just-"

Holding out a hand, Kate cut him off before anything else could come out of his mouth. "Haste makes waste, Castle. We need to turn over every rock, bend over backwards, and even if we end up biting off more than we can chew in the process, it will be worth it so that we can find this guy."

"Wow, you used quite a few idioms in one breath." Shaking her head, Kate started toward her desk. "Jaw!"

She turned on her heel with a questioning expression upon her face. "What?!"

Castle rolled his eyes as if his meaning were completely clear. "Another three letter body part," he informed her.

Reaching for her phone, she replied as she began to punch the morgue's familiar number into the touchpad. "Good for you. You're at six now."

Castle smiled at the false encouragement. "I know. I'm pretty good at this game. What do I get when I win?" Shaking her head, Beckett put down the receiver without even finishing the call.

"The satisfaction of knowing that you have won?" she suggested.

"Well that's boring. Work on something better, would you?" Slumping down into Beckett's chair, he propped his feet upon her desk.

Shooing him from her seat, she responded. "Sure Castle. Just as soon as I solve this case, we will work out a better prize for you."

Rick leaned over Kate, bracing himself with his hands on the armrests of her chair. "You know, Kate, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Castle leaned in for a chaste kiss, only to be rebuffed as Kate turned her head.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing my name isn't Jack then, isn't it?" Placing a hand on his chest, Beckett gently pushed him back.

Rubbing his chest as if she had hurt him, he shot her a purposefully glance. "You need to take a break every once in a while."

"I did. The other day when we went to the zoo."

"Yeah, well, you need something better like…" Castle trailed off as he thought of a good adventure for the two of them to partake in. "Oh, crap!"

"What?" Katherine wondered, worried by his sudden outburst.

Castle smacked himself on the head. "My book launch party. The first Nikki Heat, _Heat Wave_, is coming out."

Kate was obviously confused. "And…?" she trailed off, waiting for him to continue.

Castle shook his head at her as if her question has been insane. "And… The launch is tonight and I am pretty much screwed because I have to be at a reading beforehand, which starts in…" he glanced at his watch, "one hour."

Kate shook her head, turning back to face her desk. "That's plenty of time."

Castle look shocked. "You can get ready in less than an hour?" he inquired.

Beckett spun her chair back around toward Castle. "Who said I was going?"

He simply pointed. "Oh, I believe you did, detective."

"No I…" Recognition lit her face. "I guess I did. Castle, I don't-"

He extended his hand to her in order to help her out of her chair. "Don't worry, I already bought you a dress."

Katherine fiercely shook her head. "I can't let you do that."

The smirk on Castle's face grew tenfold. "Don't be silly, of course you can. Besides, I can't show up with a naked woman on my arm, what would people say?"

"Castle…" she warned, although he didn't seem to be listening.

"We had better get going, Kate. My mother and Alexis will already be getting ready. I'm surprised they haven't-" The ringing of a cell phone cut him off. "Hey Alexis, yeah, I just remembered. Yep, I'm on my way." The short conversation came to an end and Castle looked expectantly at Beckett. "Come on, Kate. There's nothing more we can do on this case right now. All we can do is wait, and why not wait at a lavish party with delectable hors d'oeuvres?" He waved her over in anticipation.

"Because, Castle. I have something called a job. That means that I don't just get up when I want to and run off to parties, leaving the work to everyone else." Arms crossed and lips pursed, she stared at Castle.

"What work? I told you, there's nothing else we can do right now. You need a break anyway. Look how tense you are, Kate. Do I need to ask the chief for permission to take you away? Because you know I will." As if to show his seriousness, Castle turned and began to walk toward the captain's office.

"I don't appreciate being forced into things, Richard." Her voice pulled him back and he was soon at his side again.

"Of course you don't, Kate," he mumbled in a wholly condescending tone.

"I'm too old to be coddled, Castle. I don't need you for that."

It was Castle's turn to cross his arms. "What _do_ you need me for?"

Kate bit her lip, considering whether or not to say what she wanted. "At the moment? Nothing."

Her stern tone brought Castle crashing down to reality. "Kate?" he questioned, hurt evident in his features.

"Why don't you just go home, Castle?" she suggested coldly. "I'll call you if anything comes up."

"But–"

"Castle," she warned, her tone of voice cautionary, threatening.

"Okay." Rick slowly slipped his hand into his pocket and removed a small object. "If… if you change your mind…" Sliding it onto the desk before him, he avoided eye contact with Kate. Turning on his heel, he swiftly made his way toward the staircase at the end of the hall.

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**End Chapter Notes:**

**Okay, so sorry again that it has taken me so long to get this up. I am taking summer classes that are really bogging me down. What are you going to do, eh?**

**Also, sorry if there are typos. I am really tired and did not re-read the second half of this chapter because I wanted to put it up tonight so that I do not forget in the morning before I go to the farmer's market. :)**


	19. Hiatus

Broke my non-dominant hand last night so typing is difficult. Expect my stories to be on hold for at least a month and a half. Sorry. :(


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